USA: Stocks Finish Mostly Flat.

The S&P 500 and the DOw were little changed on Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%, leaving the major averages around 1.5% lower for the week, as a softer-than-expected January inflation report failed to revive risk appetite amid persistent AI-related volatility. The headline inflation and core inflation rates eased as expected, maintaining market bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates multiple times this year. Chipmakers and megacap tech names including Nvidia (-2.2%), Apple (-2.3%), Alphabet (-1.1%), Meta (-1.6%), and Broadcom (-1.8%) remained under pressure amid renewed scrutiny over the sustainability of datacenter capital expenditure, keeping a lid on broader gains. Software names such as Salesforce (2.3%) and Oracle (2.3%) advanced, while Applied Materials (8.1%) and Arista Networks (4.8%) surged after upbeat earnings.