US stocks buck falling trend but still at risk

Markets were mostly lower on Friday.

Asian stocks plunged. With Japanese markets closed, the Hang Seng led the declines, tumbling 2 percent. The KOSPI fell 1.7 percent and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.6 percent.

European stocks fared little better. The STOXX Europe 600 fell 1.0 percent to its lowest close since 28 February.

Asian and European stocks were mostly reacting to ongoing tension between North Korea and the United States but US stocks managed to buck the trend as the S&P rose 0.1 percent after a report showed that US consumer prices rose just 0.1 percent last month.

“Because the numbers came in lower, the market saw that as an indication that the Fed won't raise rates in September,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private.

Despite the rise on Friday, the S&P 500 ended the week down 1.4 percent.

Ryan Vlastelica at MarketWatch warned of the risk of “further losses ahead” for the US stock market.

Vlastelica noted that both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell below their 50-day moving averages on Thursday and failed to regain those levels on Friday.

“This isn’t a sign that you need to sell everything, but it is a sign you need to be more careful,” he quoted Frank Gretz, market analyst and technician for brokerage Wellington Shields & Co, as saying.