The market looks set for a day where matchsticks might be required to prop your eyes open, after Wall Street’s indices made a pancake look bumpy on Friday.

LoadingWhile the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 0.3% gain, the S&P 500 index eased 0.1% on falls for energy and financial stocks, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.2%.

US markets ended the week higher after weaker than expected inflation figures again raised hopes that rate rises might be near an end and rate cuts on their way next year.

I think this quote from Reuters’ Friday US market wrap summed up the mood neatly.

“We’ve rallied significantly year to date, and that was in anticipation of better-than-expected earnings,” Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire Advisors told the financial news service.

“What we’re seeing now and are likely to continue to see through the end of the summer is a little bit of fatigue and lack of conviction that stocks can go materially higher.”

Friday saw a few banks come out with their earnings reports, but investors will be eyeing off the profits of the Magnificent Seven over the next few weeks.

If you want to know who they are and why they are important to the overall market outlook, Rachel Pupazzoni had a great primer a couple of weeks ago.