Stocks inch higher but are still on track for weekly losses

Stocks were inching higher Friday morning but not enough erase the market’s losses in this holiday-shortened week. Technology companies were among the biggest gainers.

The S&P 500 was up 0.1% as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern, but it’s still down 0.9% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.3%.

Stocks have traded in a narrow range for several weeks as most investors are sitting on the sidelines waiting to get a fuller understanding of where the economy is headed and how the pandemic is impacting corporations.

Investors got a negative piece of inflation data on Friday. Inflation at the wholesale level climbed 8.3% last month from August 2020, the biggest annual gain since the Labor Department started calculating the 12-month number in 2010.

The Federal Reserve’s policymakers have repeatedly said they believe inflation this year would be temporary and is a result of the economy recovering from the pandemic. However persistently high inflation could force the Fed’s hand to start pulling back on its bond-buying program and low interest rate policy sooner than anticipated.

The bond market had a mild reaction to the inflation data, a possible sign that investors continue to agree with the Fed’s outlook. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.32% from 1.30%.

The pandemic remains in the forefront of investors’ minds, as hospitals fill up in the South and other parts of the country. President Joe Biden announced Thursday that companies with more than 100 employees would be required to have their employees vaccinated or do weekly testing, an announcement big companies have been willing to embrace.