U.S. stocks close mixed to end the week

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as Wall Street tempered expectations for near-term interest rate cuts following a week of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 34.86 points, or 0.08 percent, to 44,946.12, notching an intraday record high before easing. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 18.74 points, or 0.29 percent, to 6,449.80, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 87.69 points, or 0.40 percent, to 21,622.98.

Seven of the 11 major The Standard and Poor's 500 sectors finished lower, with financials and technology leading declines, down 1.12 percent and 0.75 percent, respectively. Health care and real estate outperformed, rising 1.65 percent and 0.68 percent.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped to 58.6 in August from 61.7 in July, reflecting renewed inflation concerns. Meanwhile, consumers' year-ahead inflation expectations rose from 4.5 percent in July to 4.9 percent in August.

U.S. consumers continue to expect both inflation and unemployment to deteriorate in the future, though they are no longer bracing for the worst-case scenario for the economy feared in April, according to Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan's monthly Surveys of Consumers.

U.S. retail sales for July rose 0.5 percent and core retail sales climbed 0.3 percent, matching forecasts, according to data issued on Friday.

Markets were also watching developments from a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which investors hoped might pave the way for progress to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict and influence the outlook for crude oil prices.

UnitedHealth surged almost 12 percent on Friday after a filing revealed Berkshire Hathaway took a roughly 1.6 billion U.S. dollars stake last quarter. Tesla slid 1.5 percent, while Apple and Microsoft also retreated. Alphabet gained about 0.5 percent, and Meta Platforms and Amazon edged higher. Nvidia and Broadcom fell 0.86 percent and 1.57 percent, respectively.

U.S. stocks close mixed to end the week

U.S. stocks close mixed to end the week

U.S. stocks close mixed to end the week

U.S. stocks close mixed to end the week

The U.S. State Department announced Wednesday that it is pausing immigrant visa processing from 75 countries.

The measure will apply to "countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the department said on X.

The pause impacts countries including Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea, "whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival," said the State Department.

Earlier on Wednesday, the department announced in a memo that it would suspend visa processing for 75 countries, including Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Yemen, according to a Fox News report.

The pause will begin Jan. 21 and will continue indefinitely until the department conducts a reassessment of visa processing, the report said. The move came after the White House announced on Tuesday that it is ending temporary protected status for Somali immigrants amid fraud allegations in Minnesota.

On Monday, the State Department announced on social media that it had revoked over 100,000 visas since U.S. President Donald Trump took office nearly a year ago.

In November 2025, Trump announced his intention to permanently suspend immigration from what he described as "Third World countries", following the death of a National Guard member after being shot near the White House by an Afghan national.

U.S. freezes immigrant visa processing from 75 countries