Wall Street closed mixed on Friday, driven by utility stocks. Market participants remained cautiously expectant about the Fed’s November meeting, with varied signals coming from officials. One of the three most widely followed indexes closed the session in the green, while two closed in the red.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 38.17 points, or 0.1%, to close at 42,063.36. Eighteen components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while 12 ended in negative.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 65.66 points, or 0.4%, to close at 17,948.32.

The S&P 500 declined 11.09 points, or 0.2%, to close at 5,702.55. Eight of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) decreased 0.7%, 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) advanced 2.6%.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 1.1% to 16.15. A total of 20 billion shares were traded on Friday, higher than the last 20-session average of 11.5 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers by a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.87-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

Fed Officials Send Mixed Signals About November Meeting

Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman kept investors on tenterhooks by sending mixed signals about what to expect from the November Fed meeting. Waller said in an interview that recent data had convinced him that the Fed needed to cut rates faster, while Bowman, in a separate statement, noted that the 50 bp cut sent the wrong signal with inflation still above the central bank's 2% goal.

Bowman went on to say that she agreed it was time to cut rates since inflation had slowed significantly. However, prices were still increasing roughly 2.5% year over year, and "the Committee's larger policy action could be interpreted as a premature declaration of victory."

The November meeting is a fair way off. Yet, the two comments came in at different points in the day, marking two definitive stir-ups in the market. While Waller’s comments helped raise hope that there might be another 50 bp rate cut in the offing, Bowman balanced it by bringing them back down to the ground. Utilities did rather well on the day.

Consequently, shares of OGE Energy Corp. OGE and Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated PEG gained 1.5% and 4%, respectively. OGE currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Weekly Roundup

Last week, the S&P 500 gained 1.4%, the tech-focused Nasdaq rose 1.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.6%.

Per CME’s FedWatch Tool, market participants are pricing in a rate cut of at least 25 bps in November, with a 50.2% probability that it may go up to another 50 bps cut.

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