By Intense Life Desires 
The S&P 500 pulled within striking distance of its highest levels on record on Friday after the latest wave of economic data did little to shift rate-cut expectations.
The market benchmark rose 0.2% to mark its second weekly gain in a row. It also briefly cleared its Oct. 28 closing high before pulling back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 104 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%.
It was a mostly quiet Friday afternoon for markets. The major indexes briefly popped after the September core personal consumption expenditures price index matched economist forecasts and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose more than expected in December.
The market’s rally lost steam shortly before 11 a.m. and stocks traded sideways for the rest of the session.
Though the September data was released more than a month late because of the government shutdown, it didn’t do anything to shift bets on a cut on Dec. 10. Wall Street sees an 87.2% chance the Federal Open Market Committee opts for a quarter-point cut in the coming week, the same level as prior to the PCE release.
“The S&P 500 entered today having finished eight of the last nine sessions higher and started the session within 1% of its all-time high from October,” Frank Cappelleri, founder of technical analysis firm CappThesis, told Barron’s. “With the FOMC meeting next week, there’s a reasonable case that traders—who have been notably aggressive over the last two weeks—may be taking a short-term pause.”
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.14%, while the 2-year yield was up to 3.56%.