Dow Vaults as Traders Shake off Inflation Data



Stocks rose Friday, with investors looking to recover from four straight days of declines, as oil prices retreated. Traders also looked past growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike following the latest U.S. inflation reading.

The Dow Jones Industrials rocketed 519.89 points, or 1%, to 52,583.99.

The S&P 500 hiked 79.35 points, or 1%, to 7,671.05

The NASDAQ Composite zoomed 328.11 points, or 1.3%, to 26,409.83.

The major averages have fallen for four consecutive sessions. For the Dow, it has been the longest daily losing streak since late April.

CPI rose 0.4% in August month over month and 3.4% year over year, matching Dow Jones estimates. Core CPI, which excludes energy and food, climbed 0.3% from the month prior, slightly more than expected.

Crude prices eased, giving back some of the sharp gains seen this week due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 3% to $99.28 per barrel. Brent futures slid 3.1% as well to $104.32 per barrel.

Still, both contracts remained on pace for weekly advances of around 8%. On top of that, the latest U.S. inflation data shows higher energy prices putting upward pressure on consumer goods.

Tech stocks were showing solid gains early Friday as investors rotated back into growth. A strong earnings report from cloud computing company Oracle added confidence to the AI thesis this week.

Oracle shares gained 34 cents to $153.33.

JPMorgan downgraded Chewy to neutral from overweight, setting a price target to $24.00, implying roughly 14% downside from Thursday close. Chewy dipped $1.04, or 4.9%, to $20.04.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 4.94% from Thursday’s 4.95%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices subtracted $3.22 to $99.26 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices moved ahead $4.80 to $4,412.30 U.S. an ounce.