04:24 PM EDT, 04/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes were mixed this week as government bond yields rose after relatively strong macroeconomic data coupled with hawkish comments from top Federal Reserve officials outweighed the impact of the escalation in the Middle East conflict.

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 37,986.40 on Friday, slightly up from 37,983.24 a week ago. But, the S&P 500 closed at 4,967.23, down from 5,123.41, and the Nasdaq ended at 15,282.01 versus 16,175.09 a week prior.

* Overnight, Israel launched a retaliatory strike on Iran, which said its nuclear site is "completely safe" and shut airspace over the western part of the country and its capital. Israel's drone operation was relatively limited in scale.

* The US 10-year and two-year Treasury yields were down late on Friday amid a defensive move into haven assets. But, from a week ago, the yields still rose.

* On Monday, US retail sales grew at more than twice the pace the market had anticipated -- signaling a relatively strong US consumer.

* Federal Reserve Chair Powell said Tuesday it will likely take longer than anticipated for US inflation to sustainably return to the central bank's 2% target. "Powell was clear, the Fed intends to stay on the sidelines longer than expected, given the unexpected increase in recent inflation data," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a note.

* On Thursday, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index surprisingly surged in April.

* Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Friday the progress in easing inflationary pressures has "stalled," and it "makes sense" to extend the pause rather than cut interest rates.

* Technology was the worst-performing sector this week and this month. Barring Adobe Systems (ADBE) and SAP (SAP), all the other technology firms with a market cap of over $200 billion fell at least 5% this week. Netflix ( NFLX ) sank 11%, the worst-performing stock in the communication services sector.