A softer-than-expected inflation print for September solidified bets that the Fed will ease rates again next week. Traders brought forward their forecasts, now anticipating three quarter-point reductions by March instead of April, giving equities a late-week boost after a largely directionless stretch.
At 11:47 a.m., the Dow Jones jumped 551.63 points, or 1.18%, to 47,286.24; the S&P 500 gained 61.05 points, or 0.91%, to 6,799.46; and the Nasdaq advanced 272.52 points, or 1.19%, to 23,214.32.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on track for their best weekly run in more than two months, while the Dow was eyeing its strongest week in nearly four months.
The rate-sensitive Russell 2000 index rose 1.6%.
Intel was up 0.7% after topping third-quarter profit estimates.AMD and Micron climbed 6.7% and 5%, respectively, while Nvidia was up 1.8%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index added 2.2% to surpass Monday’s record.Alphabet rose 2.9% after Anthropic said it would use tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Google’s AI chips to train its Claude chatbot. The communications services index gained 1.2%.
Consumer goods bellwether Procter & Gamble topped first-quarter estimates on strong demand for its beauty and hair-care products, sending its shares up 1%.
Financials were also a boost, gaining 1.2%. Coinbase Global rose 7.9% after J.P.Morgan upgraded rating on the stock to “overweight” from “neutral”.
“This is more of a relief rally and now the markets will turn to other issues – the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi next week and some of the big tech companies’ (earnings),” said Douglas Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
Five of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ companies, including Apple and Microsoft, are set to report earnings next week. Disappointing results from Tesla and Netflix weighed on sentiment earlier this week.
Meanwhile, business activity showed a tepid rebound in October. The White House also warned that next month’s inflation data may not be released due to the government shutdown, now into its 24th day.
TRADE JITTERS REMAIN
Global markets got a breather after the White House confirmed U.S. President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week during his Asia tour.
The announcement sparked hopes of a breakthrough in the standoff marked by rolling tariffs and export restrictions.
Still, tensions flared elsewhere. Trump abruptly ended all trade talks with Canada on Thursday after a political advertisement used late U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s voice to slam tariffs.
Among other movers, Deckers Outdoor forecast full-year sales below Wall Street estimates, sending shares of the Hoka sneakers maker down 12%.
Ford added 10.9% after the carmaker’s third-quarter profit beat expectations.
General Dynamics beat third-quarter expectations, sending its shares up 1.4%.
Alaska Air dropped 4.9% after the airline cut annual forecast and a tech outage led to flights being grounded before operations were restored.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.57-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.98-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 109 new highs and 22 new lows.
