04:42 PM EDT, 05/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes slipped this week amid a busy earnings season in which the Federal Reserve maintained a neutral policy stance and while the Trump administration announced tariff negotiations with China over the weekend.

* The S&P 500 closed at 5,659.91 on Friday, versus 5,686.67 a week ago. The Nasdaq Composite stood at 17,928.92 at the close compared with 17,977.73, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week at 41,249.38, versus 41,317.43.

* Earnings released this week included Palantir ( PLTR ) , Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) , Disney ( DIS ) , and Uber Technologies ( UBER ) . Barring Palantir ( PLTR ), all three companies closed the week higher.

* Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that policymakers can wait to receive more information on how tariffs impact the US economy before considering rate reductions. Powell didn't say how long that would take with the FOMC in "wait and see and watch" mode.

* On Friday, New York Fed President John Williams said well-anchored inflation expectations are "the bedrock" of central bank policy. Fed Governor Michael Barr said that tariffs may spur inflation, noting that their size and scope were "without modern precedent."

* US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with Chinese Vice Premier Lifeng in Switzerland on Saturday and Sunday to de-escalate the trade war. President Donald Trump said in a social media post Friday that China should open its market to US goods, but wrote that an "80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B".

* "The US administration is reportedly leaning toward cutting its absurdly high tariffs on China in an attempt to coax China back to the negotiating table," Derek Holt, head of capital market economics at Scotiabank, said in a note Friday. "The rumoured tariff cut remains well into territory that crushes commerce by making it unprofitable to supply the market. All of this is setting the stage for talks in Geneva."