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Markets closed off a lackluster week as the major stock indices either slightly dipped or remained flat on Friday. The S&P 500 posted a daily drop of 0.2% and a weekly decline of 1.3%. The Nasdaq dropped 0.5%, and the Dow Jones was essentially flat with a daily gain of 0.1%.<\/p>\n
The end of the short trading week\u2014U.S. markets were closed on Thursday in observance of Juneteenth\u2014came as the White House said<\/a> Thursday evening that President Donald Trump would decide within two weeks whether to strike Iran. The commander-in-chief had been weighing military action after Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, began trading missile and drone strikes with the Islamic Republic last Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know exactly where the so-called \u2018Supreme Leader\u2019 is hiding,\u201d Trump posted<\/a> on social media on Wednesday, referring to Iran\u2019s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. \u201cHe is an easy target, but is safe there \u2013 We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.\u201d<\/p>\n A potential U.S. entrance into the conflict between Israel and Iran could heighten tensions in the region and further disrupt oil trade. Oil prices fell<\/a> on Friday, in a likely sign that traders were relieved that Trump decided to delay conflict with Iran for two weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means two weeks of uncertainty for financial markets, but investors are still inclined to see the Middle East conflict as a local, not a global, economic issue,\u201d Paul Donovan, chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a Friday analyst note.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Christopher Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said Friday that the U.S. central bank may cut interest rates as early as July. \u201cThat would be my view, whether the committee would go along with it or not,\u201d Walker said in an interview with CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the Fed decided to hold interest rates steady for its fourth meeting in a row. Meanwhile, Trump has pushed for interest rate cuts since he took office in January. \u201cUncertainty about the economic outlook has diminished but remains elevated,\u201d wrote the Fed in a Wednesday statement.<\/p>\n While the central bank struck a cautiously optimistic approach to the U.S. economy, some analysts were more pessimistic. <\/p>\n \u201cThe slump in single-family construction is deepening, another headwind to activity and employment,\u201d wrote Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen, economists for Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a Friday research note.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nIntroducing the 2025 Fortune 500<\/strong>, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in America.\u00a0Explore this year’s list.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n