Wall Street Enjoys Late-Week Rally On Benign Inflation Data, Dow Jones Eyes Best Session Of 2024, Tech Unwinding Stalls: What’s Driving Markets Friday?
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After a turbulent week in the markets, the bulls reclaimed dominance on Wall Street during Friday’s session, with indices and sectors trading in positive territory as investors welcomed the latest corporate earnings results and further confirmation of inflation progressing toward the Fed’s 2% target.
In June, the Personal Consumption Expenditure price index – the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation – dropped to 2.5% year-on-year, as anticipated, marking the lowest level since February 2021. The core component slightly exceeded expectations, remaining steady at 2.6% annually.
Investors are unwavering in their expectations for a Fed interest rate cut in September, assigning it a 100% probability and factoring in nearly three cumulative rate cuts by year-end.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the charge on Friday, with the blue-chip index surging 1.9%, setting the stage for its strongest session this year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rebounded significantly, climbing 1.6%, which halted the tech sector’s decline but wasn’t enough to reverse a negative weekly close.
The Russell 2000, as tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), also posted a solid gain of 1.3%.
Rate-sensitive sectors continued their rally, with homebuilders, as tracked by the SPDR Homebuilders ETF (NYSE:XHB), rising over 3% for the day, reaching all-time highs and marking their third consecutive positive weekly close.
In the bond market, Treasuries rose as yields dipped slightly, especially in longer-dated maturities.
Gold also rallied, increasing by 1%, while oil prices dropped by 1%. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rose 2.5%, marking its second consecutive positive session after three negative ones.
Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
Dow Jones | 40,712.07 | 1.9% |
S&P 500 | 5,483.84 | 1.6% |
Nasdaq 100 | 19,116.90 | 1.5% |
Russell 2000 | 2,252.38 | 1.3% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 1.5% higher to $546.75.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 2% to $407.34.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (ARCA: QQQ) rose 1.5% to $465.21.
- Sector-wise, the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) outperformed, up by 2.3%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lagged, up 0.5%.
Friday’s Stock Movers
Stocks moving on earnings were:
- 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), up 19%.
- Aon plc (NYSE:AON) up 6.4%.
- Avantor Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) up 12%.
- Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE:B), down 3%.
- BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI), down 12%.
- Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (NYSE:BAH) down 10%.
- Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), up 5.4%.
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY), up 9.7%.
- Centene Corp. (NYSE:CNC) up 9.8%.
- Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) up 16.2%.
- Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) up 3.7%.
- Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NYSE:DECK) up 7.9%.
- DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM) down 42%.
- Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE:BEN) up 1.9%.
- Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) flat.
- Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MHK) up 19%.
- Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) up 39%.
- Saia Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) down 20%.
- SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) down 6.5%.
- T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) down 2.8%.
- VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) up 3.3%.
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