
Stocks fell Friday as GOP negotiators halted ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, stoking doubt of a deal being reached soon. However, the S&P 500 notched its best week since March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 109.28 points, or 0.33%, to 33,426.63. The S&P 500 slipped 0.14% to 4,191.98. The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.24% to 12,657.90.
All three major averages capped the week with gains. The S&P 500 rose 1.65%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 3.04%. It was the best weekly performance since March for both indexes. The Dow added 0.38%.
A chunk of those gains came Thursday, as traders mounted bets that a U.S. debt ceiling deal could be reached. Comments from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Thursday seemed to suggest a potential deal could come as soon as next week.
However, stocks turned lower Friday after GOP negotiators walked out of a debt ceiling meeting, with Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., saying the White House team is "unreasonable," according to NBC News. "We're not going to sit here and talk to ourselves," he said.
Friday's losses were kept in check, however, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said interest rates may not have to rise as much as expected to quell inflation.
"Markets have had a fairly constructive week, and were trading better as in the early hours of today's trading day, in large part due to a more constructive or positive sentiment around the debt ceiling negotiations. And that took a little bit of a bump in the road [today] as the negotiations have taken a pause," said B. Riley Financial's Art Hogan.
"I don't think that is the end. But I certainly think that going into the weekend, with any uncertainty about the debt ceiling, it's going to cause a bit of a sell off," he added.