US stocks registered their first negative quarter of 2023 on Friday, ruling off on a bumpy three months for equities and bonds as investors shifted to the likelihood that although inflationary pressures may be easing, interest rates will probably remain higher for longer.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.3 on Friday and notched a 3.7 per cent decline since the end of June, its first negative quarter in 12 months. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1 per cent on Friday, but dropped 4.1 per cent drop in the quarter. That marked its biggest quarterly drop since the three months to the end of June 2022.
Friday’s moves came as US core personal consumption expenditures fell from 4.3 per cent in July to 3.9 per cent in August, the lowest level in almost two years for the inflation gauge, which is closely watched by policymakers.
Read the full story on the Financial Times here.