Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as a picture of Vice President Kamala Harris is displayed on a television screen on July 22, 2024 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stocks jumped Friday, as Wall Street looked to cap off a turbulent week on a positive note and investors weighed fresh U.S. inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 610 points higher, or 1.5%, led to the upside by 3M. The industrials giant popped nearly 16% and headed for its best day since at least 1972. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5%.
Friday’s moves stem from a combination of oversold sentiment, a stronger-than-expected GDP report Thursday and the view that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting rates due to economic resilience, said CFRA Research’s Sam Stovall.
“Today’s benign PCE report helped talk the market off the ledge,” he said. “With this pullback, the great rotation lives on and breadth continues to be on our side.”
Investors continued their pivot into cyclical areas of the market and small caps, with the Russell 2000 last up about 2%. Industrials, real estate and financials also outperformed, lifting the respective S&P sectors at least 1% each.
Some technology names that have struggled amid this week’s sell-off gained, with Nvidia and Meta Platforms last up about 1%. Microsoft and Amazon also moved higher.
Wall Street also assessed June’s personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation reading that’s preferred by central bank policymakers. On a monthly basis, headline PCE rose 0.1% and by 2.5% from a year ago. That was in line with estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones.
That data comes at the end of a volatile week on Wall Street. The S&P 500 is down 1% this week, while the Nasdaq has lost 2.8%. The Dow is the outlier, up 0.5%. Those declines come as investors seemed to be part of a broader rotation into small caps and more cyclical areas of the market.
SPX 5-day chart
