Other weak performers were Mercury NZ (down 2.06 per cent), Newmont (down 1.59 per cent) and Washington H Soul Pattinson and Company (down 1.26 per cent).

In other news, real estate operator McGrath Limited soared 24.47 per cent after John McGrath closed in on a deal to sell his agency to global property giant Knight Frank and Bayleys.

Under the deal, McGrath shareholders will have the option to receive 60¢ cash per McGrath share, or an unlisted scrip alternative, or a combination of both. If successful, it will spell the end of being a listed ASX company which has been a rocky road for the company McGrath founded in Paddington in 1988.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent, the Dow Jones fell 0.8 per cent and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2 per cent.

Nike dragged on the market after falling 6.9 per cent. It reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but it’s in the midst of several fundamental changes to inject more newness into its shoes and other products to make them more popular.

Shares of Lululemon Athletica also dropped despite a better-than-expected profit report. The athletic apparel company gave forecasts for revenue and profit over the upcoming fiscal year that fell short of analysts’ expectations, and it sank 15.8 per cent.

Reddit fell 8.8 per cent to give back some of the big gain from its dynamic debut on the US stock market. The eclectic bazaar of online communities offered its stock at an initial price of $US34 a share and gained 48.4 per cent in its first day of trading on Thursday.

Helping to support the market was FedEx, which climbed 7.4 per cent after reporting stronger profit than expected despite what it called “a difficult demand environment.”

Some of the market’s wildest action was centred on Digital World Acquisition Corp. The company’s shareholders on Friday approved a merger with the company behind former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform. Its stock went from a 12 per cent gain early in the day to a drop of 13.7 per cent.

The stock had been on a spectacular run this year as Trump has marched toward the Republican nomination for president. But it began falling shortly after Digital World shareholders approved the merger, which would see Trump Media & Technology Group shares trade under the symbol DJT and replace Digital World’s DWAC.

Critics have said Digital World’s stock is much, much higher than the businesses’ fundamentals suggest, and Truth Social has been losing money.

In the bond market, Treasury yields sank to pull back further for the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.20 per cent from 4.27 per cent late Thursday.

Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve indicated that it still may deliver three cuts to interest rates this year, as long as inflation keeps cooling. That calmed worries on Wall Street that several hotter-than-expected inflation reports this year could force it to take rate cuts off the table.

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Continued expectations for a coming Fed pivot on rates are likely to support stocks, along with surging investment in artificial intelligence and several other drivers for the market, according to David Lefkowitz, head of US equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.

But he sees the S&P 500 ending the year close to where it is now, after it’s already leaped nearly 10 per cent so far in 2024.

With AP

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