Equity Markets Close Higher After Fed Official Remarks

04:20 PM EDT, 03/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed higher on Friday as markets digested the latest remarks by a Federal Reserve official regarding a "highly uncertain" future.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to 17,784.1, while the S&P 500 increased 0.1% to 5,667.6. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% to 41,985.4. All sectors except consumer discretionary, communication systems and technology were down.

US Treasury yields were mixed with the 10-year rate gaining about 2 basis points to 4.3% and the two-year rate was down 1.5 basis points to 4%.

May West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased 0.3% to $68.28 a barrel Friday.

In economic news, New York Fed President John Williams said the future is "highly uncertain" amid mixed signals from recent data.

"I expect (US economic) growth this year to step down from last year's pace in part because of a slowdown in labor force growth due to lower immigration rates," Williams said. "There are many scenarios that could play out, depending on fiscal and trade policies and geopolitical and other developments."

In company news, Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) was among the top performers on the S&P 500, shares jumped 7.8%. J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to neutral from underweight and raised its price target to $45 from $35.

Boeing ( BA ) shares were up 3.1% as the company won a multibillion dollar contract to design and build a fighter jet for the US Air Force, beating Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) . The fighter jet is set to be named Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, and will replace Lockheed Martin's ( LMT ) F-22 Raptor.

VivoPower ( VVPR ) shares surged past 52% after its unit Tembo E-LV completed a review of new special purpose acquisition company rules and said its merger with Cactus Acquisition will likely be completed by the end of Q2.

Micron Technology ( MU ) was the worst performer on the S&P 500 with shares down 8%. The company is facing margin pressures as it transitions from the NAND business to the high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, segment to serve the growing AI industry, UBS analysts said in a Friday note.

Gold dropped 0.6% to $3,025..60 per troy ounce, while silver was down 1.4% to $33.51 per troy ounce.

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