04:59 PM EDT, 05/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes ended lower this week as gains Friday from an in-line inflation report failed to outweigh the detrimental impact of hawkish comments from central bank officials.

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average, home to 30 mega-caps from the traditional economic landscape, closed at 38,686.32 on Friday versus 39,069.59 a week ago. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at 16,735.01 versus 16,920.79 a week prior, and the S&P 500 ended at 5277.51, compared with 5,304.72 a week earlier.

* The April personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.3% for the third month, meeting expectations. The year-over-year rate remained at 2.7%, in line with forecasts. As expected, the core PCE price index grew 0.2%, following a 0.3% gain in March. The year-over-year rate remained at 2.8% for the third consecutive month, matching market expectations.

* "While April's inflation numbers are headed in the right direction once again, Fed governors are likely to continue their exercise in patience, with the first rate cut occurring closer to the end of the year," TD Economics said in a note.

* On Tuesday, the US consumer confidence for May unexpectedly rebounded amid the strength in labor market sentiment, the Conference Board said.

* A rise in government bond yields earlier in the week amid a flood of Treasury debt auctions also weighed on markets. Tuesday's 2-year note bid-to-cover fell to 2.41 from 2.66 previously, and the 5-year bid-to-cover fell to 2.3 from 2.39, Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, said in a note.

* The auction data were hardly disasters but reflected [Minneapolis Fed President Neel] Kashkari's comments that low probability hikes remain on the table for him and an "indefinite" pause is possible, Holt said in the note. Kashkari spoke hours ahead of the Tuesday government debt auctions.