Stocks stumble on inflation fears, but 2 of our names give us reasons to stay bullish

Breaking news from the markets: Friday's market rally was not enough to flip stocks into the green last week as surging oil prices and bond yields stoked renewed concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve's next move. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , the S & P 500 , and the Nasdaq all pared their weekly losses in Friday's trading — each with nearly 1% gains at the close — as crude and rates came off the boil. While able to break their four-session losing streaks, the Dow led the declines during the holiday-shortened week, falling 1.

The S & P 500 and Nasdaq lost 0. 7%, respectively, on the week. Escalating tensions between the U.

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and Iran sent West Texas Intermediate above $100 per barrel on Thursday for the first time in nearly four months . Even with Friday's decline, WTI rose more than 9% last week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury on Thursday topped out above 4.

95%, its highest level since October 2023. Bond yields, which also took a breather Friday, have been moving lockstep with rising crude prices on worries that higher energy costs could keep inflation elevated and necessitate an interest rate hike at this coming week's Fed meeting. It wasn't all doom and gloom last week, as Club names Meta Platforms and Apple gave us fresh reasons to be optimistic about their long-term artificial intelligence opportunities.

Here's a closer look at three developments that drove our portfolio last week. Fed rate hike looks increasingly likely Inflation data last week did little to ease concerns about a Fed rate increase at its upcoming meeting. Thursday's producer price index rose 0.

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4% for the month, in line with expectations, while Friday's consumer price index showed headline inflation also increasing 0. 4% month over month and 3. 4% from a year earlier.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0. 3% on the month, slightly more than expected. These are the final major inflation indicators the Fed will see before its Sept.

The market odds of a September Fed rate hike went to 87%, up from 58% the week prior, according to the CME FedWatch tool . A second rate increase before the end of the year is also starting to come into the frame. Meta's AI strides get harder to ignore Meta's latest artificial intelligence releases are putting the stock's undemanding valuation in a new light.

Economists are analysing what the news means for the markets.