The S&P 500 rose 1.1% near midday Friday as Wall Street rallied, snapping four straight days of declines after oil prices retreated and headline August inflation matched estimates even as core CPI ran hotter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite also advanced, while Oracle and Apple led gains among blue-chip names.
Indexes rally after four-day slide
Wall Street's rally came after oil prices retreated and an August inflation report matched most estimates. Near midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also advanced. The S&P 500 moved up 1.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2%, and the Russell 2000 small-cap index lagged with a 0.6% gain.
The advance followed four consecutive sessions of declines for the major averages, the longest losing streak for the Dow since late April. At 11:52 a.m. ET, the Dow rose 530.49 points, or 1.02%, to 52,593.73, the S&P 500 gained 79.68 points, or 1.05%, to 7,671.38, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 318.32 points, or 1.22%, to 26,400.04.
Inflation comes in largely as expected
The Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 0.4% in August, with an annual increase of 3.4%, both matching estimates. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, climbed 0.3% on the month, slightly hotter than the 0.2% estimate, and 2.4% year over year, in line with expectations.
Traders still see a 85.6% chance of a quarter-point rate hike at next week's Federal Reserve meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool. According to Reuters: "Today's numbers are not enough to make investors run for the exits", said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
Oil retreat and earnings movers
West Texas Intermediate crude futures tumbled 3% to around $99.40 a barrel, while the 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher to 4.95%. Oracle shares jumped nearly 6% after the company's fiscal first-quarter results beat expectations, with cloud infrastructure growth accelerating to triple digits. Apple rallied 2.3% after the release of the iPhone 18 earlier in the week, and the stock is fast approaching an all-time high.
Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes traded in the green, led by communication services and technology, even as the Dow remained on course for its steepest weekly decline since March.
Sources: Investor's Business Daily, CNBC, Reuters
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