US stocks rose during afternoon trading Friday and were poised for a comeback as investors embraced new pricing data that showed inflation continuing to ease, solidifying expectations for coming interest-rate cuts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added 1.7%, or more than 600 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose about 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) put on 1.1%, although both indexes headed for weekly losses.
Stocks are looking positive after a volatile series of sessions that have put the major gauges on track for hefty weekly losses. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have taken a bruising as Big Tech earnings undermined confidence in the AI trade, spurring the ongoing exodus from megacaps into small cap stocks.
That pause in this year’s rally has Wall Street questioning whether the sell-off is a turning point to sustained lower prices or a typical bull-market pullback. In play are earnings-fueled concerns about softness in the US economy, though Thursday’s surprisingly hot GDP print eased those somewhat.
Friday’s big data point was the closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which provided more fuel to the notion of a still-strong economy and gradually cooling inflation. “Core” PCE, which strips out the cost of food and energy and is closely watched by the Fed, came in slightly higher than expectations but rose at its slowest pace in over three years.
Investors are also getting set for quarterly earnings next week from four more “Magnificent Seven” techs — Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META).
Overall, the market is showing signs of resilience and optimism as investors navigate through a challenging period of uncertainty and volatility. Stay tuned for more updates as the market continues to evolve.
