US stocks trade mixed after Fed official pours cold water on rate-cut hopes

• Stocks fell on Friday after the NY Fed's president said the central bank isn't discussing rate cuts right now.
• That comes after policymakers on Wednesday signaled three rate cuts in 2024.
• "Have we gotten monetary policy to sufficiently restrictive stance in order to ensure the inflation comes back down to 2%? That's the question in front of us."

US stocks traded mixed on Friday after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said the central bank was not currently discussing rate cuts.

"We aren't really talking about rate cuts right now," he said in a CNBC interview. "We're very focused on the question in front of us, which as chair Powell said, the question is, have we gotten monetary policy to sufficiently restrictive stance in order to ensure the inflation comes back down to 2%? That's the question in front of us."

That put a damper on the flurry of optimism following Fed Chair Jerome Powell's dovish comments on Wednesday, when policymakers also signaled three rate cuts in 2024.

Despite Williams' hawkish remarks, stocks are on track for weekly gains, with the Dow eyeing a ninth consecutive weekly advance and the S&P 500 on pace for a seventh straight win.

Here's where US indexes stood as the market opened at 9:30 a.m. on Friday: 

• S&P 500: 4,709.14, down 0.22%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 37,178.88, down 0.19% (69.47 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 14,786.19, up 0.17%

Here's what else is going on:

• The Fed's rate-cut signals could prompt a fresh bout of inflation, economists said.
• The S&P 500 is trading 8% higher today than it was before the Fed started hiking rates last spring.
• Analysts at Bernstein say India is set drive global oil demand growth in the next 20 years.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• Oil prices rose, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.61% to $72.02 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved higher by 0.52% to $77.01 a barrel.
• Gold edged up 0.24% to $2,054.20 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield moved up 3.5 basis points to 3.965%.
• Bitcoin fell 1.57% to $42,260.90.