Investors Take Pause After Busy Week

Stocks were little changed on Friday in a pause from a strong performance this week, as investors weighed the latest on the global trade and inflation fronts.The Dow Jones Industrials backed off 12.4 points to commence trading Friday at 44,699.03The S&P 500 index gained 7.86 points to 6,122.93The tech-heavy NASDAQ added 35.92 points to 19,981.57. The major averages are on pace to end the week higher. The S&P 500 is set to gain 1.5% on the week and the Dow is on pace for a gain of 0.9%. The NASDAQ is 2.2% higher this week.On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on laying out a plan to impose levies on goods from countries with duties on U.S. products. The lack of immediate tariffs boosted sentiment, which saw equity markets move higher as investors also piled into technology stocks.While markets managed to end the previous trading session higher one expert expresses the opinion that this relief and positive momentum over a pause in reciprocal tariffs may be short-lived.Prices for the 10-year Treasury won new life, lowering yields to 4.47% from Thursday’s 4.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.Oil prices gained 17 cents to $71.46 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold subsided $10.20 an ounce to $2,934.40 U.S.