us stocks opened lower friday as investors continue to weigh what strongerthanexpected inflation data from earlier this week will mean for the federal reserve’s future path of interest rate hikes the dow jones industrial average was down 04 soon after the opening bell while the sp 500 fell 05 and the nasdaq composite dropped 07 according to factset data at last check cleveland fed president loretta mester said thursday that she had seen a “compelling” case for a halfpoint interest rate hike at the fed’s last policy meeting that concluded feb 1 when the fed lifted its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point the central bank has been trying to slow the economy and bring down inflation by raising rates a report on the leading index of economic data from the conference board is scheduled to be released at 10 am eastern time on friday