US STOCKS-Nasdaq notches record high close, traders look to Fed meeting

By Noel Randewich and Ragini Mathur

Sept 12 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq notched a record high close on Friday in a mixed trading session, lifted by Microsoft as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week, when it is widely expected to cut interest rates to counter a slowdown in the jobs market.

Fueled by Tesla and other technology-related stocks, the Nasdaq added to a rally in the previous session that saw all three indexes hit all-time highs.

Investors are laser-focused on the Fed's meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. Traders expect the central bank to cut interest rates by 25 basis points after recent data showed longstanding weakness in hiring and easing inflation concerns.

"Because we had such a nice jump in the stock market yesterday, investors are basically catching their breath," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist CFRA Research. "There's really not going to be any data between now and Wednesday. It's a sort of wait-and-see attitude."

Microsoft MSFT.O gained 1.8% after the technology giant avoided a possible hefty EU antitrust fine by offering customers reduced prices for Office products excluding Teams.

Tesla TSLA.O jumped 7.4% after board chair Robyn Denholm dismissed concerns that CEO Elon Musk's political activity had hurt sales at the electric-vehicle maker and said the billionaire was "front and center" at the company after several months at the White House. With Friday's surge, Tesla shares remain down 2% in 2025.

Declines in Goldman Sachs GS.N and paint-maker Sherwin-Williams SHW.N kept the Dow Jones Industrial Average in negative territory. The S&P 500 declined marginally.

The University of Michigan's survey showed U.S. consumer sentiment fell for a second straight month in September as consumers saw rising risks to business conditions, the labor market and inflation.

The S&P 500 declined 0.05% to end the session at 6,584.29 points.

The Nasdaq gained 0.45% to 22,141.10 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.59% to 45,834.22 points.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led lower by health care .SPXHC, down 1.13%, followed by a 0.97% loss in materials .SPLRCM.

Following signs of a worsening jobs market, interest rate futures reflect expectations of cuts totaling 75 basis points by the end of the year.

For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.6%, the Dow climbed almost 1% and the Nasdaq added 2%, helped by a revival in artificial intelligence trade after cloud computing giant Oracle's ORCL.N strong forecast on Tuesday.

Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O jumped 17%, extending a surge from Wednesday, when a source said Paramount Skydance PSKY.O was preparing a bid for the struggling media company.

Shares of vaccine makers fell after a report said U.S. health officials are planning to link coronavirus vaccines to the deaths of 25 children. Moderna MRNA.O declined 7.4%, while Pfizer PFE.N and Novavax NVAX.O both lost more than 3%.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 .AD.SPX by a 3.3-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 22 new highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 106 new highs and 43 new lows.