Wall Street is stuck in a holding pattern ahead of a big speech by the head of the Federal Reserve

On Friday, the U.S. stock market held relatively steady while the bond market zigzagged as Wall Street reacted to a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. In his address to global investors and central bankers, Warsh signaled that the central bank is not ruling out an interest rate hike to cool the nation's high inflation.

Ahead of the remarks, the S&P 500 rose slightly by 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 89 points, or 0.2%, as the market remained in a holding pattern. Following the speech, major indices remained largely unchanged, though bond market expectations shifted toward a potential near-term rate increase.

Emphasizing the persistence of high inflation, Warsh stated that policymakers must be confident underlying inflation is moving toward the Fed's objective clearly and at sufficient speed, otherwise the central bank still has work to do.