NEW YORK, June 14: The stock market is coming to grips with new worries about inflation that threatens to keep the mood cautious in the coming weeks, analysts say.

The latest hawkish comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have taken markets by surprise after a long period of worry about economic weakness.

Now, some traders fear a boost in interest rates is on the way in the near future even though the US economy is still sputtering.

The past week saw volatile trade on Wall Street with the main indexes mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip shares rose 0.79 per cent in the week to Friday to 12,307.35 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 broad-market index was essentially flat for the week at 1,360.03.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.81 per cent on the week to 2,454.50.

Douglas Porter, economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a note to clients that the market is coming to grips with a profound shift in focus from weak growth (the frying pan) to rising inflation (the fire) among both global policymakers and markets.

— AFP