04:52 PM EDT, 03/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes dropped Friday, as market focus shifted to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting scheduled for next week, following recent hotter-than-expected inflation reports.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 1% to 15,973.2, while the S&P 500 slid 0.7% to 5,117.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5% to 38,714.8. Technology and communication services saw the steepest declines among sectors, while energy paced the gainers.

For the week, the Dow was flat, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq declined 0.1% and 0.7%, respectively.

Markets are widely expecting the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged on Wednesday, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. That would mark a fifth consecutive pause. The FOMC tightened monetary policy by 525 basis points from March 2022 through July 2023 to tame inflation.

The meeting could be "a highly consequential one," as policymakers will issue a new Summary of Economic Projections that could help determine the future policy path, Macquarie said in a Friday note.

"We think that the Fed is still likely to ease (policy) at mid-year (June or July), but the FOMC meeting will keep us squarely in the wait-and-see period by another one or two meeting cycles," the brokerage wrote. Macquarie said there's also a risk that the median dot drifts higher for both 2024 and 2025, currently indicating three and four cuts, respectively.

Official data released during the week showed that US February producer prices rose more than expected, while core consumer inflation -- which excludes the volatile food and energy components -- also topped market views.

The US two-year yield rose 4.1 basis points to 4.73% Friday, while the 10-year rate gained one basis to 4.31%.

In economic news, US consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell so far this month amid concerns about business conditions but remained largely steady since January, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers.

US industrial production unexpectedly edged higher last month as manufacturing rebounded, Fed data showed.

New York manufacturing activity fell more than expected into deeper contraction territory this month amid a sharp drop in orders, while optimism continued to be subdued, the New York Fed said.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 0.3% to $81.01 per barrel Friday.

In company news, Jabil (JBL) cut its full-year outlook amid near-term revenue headwinds, as its second-quarter results fell from a year earlier. The manufacturing solutions provider's shares slumped nearly 17%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500.

Adobe (ADBE) was the second-worst performer on the S&P 500 and the worst on the Nasdaq, down 14%. The software maker late Thursday logged stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results, while its revenue outlook for the ongoing three-month period fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

CoStar Group (CSGP) shares rose 8.3% Friday, the top gainer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The company said late Thursday the Homes.com residential network reached more than 149 million unique visitors last month.

Gold fell 0.3% to $2,161 per troy ounce, while silver rose 1.3% to $25.38 per ounce.