Stock Market Today: Major Indexes Close Higher Friday But Post Weekly Losses; Treasury Yields Edge Higher, Oil Prices Hold Steady

Major US Stock Indexes Close Lower for Week

FROM 2 minutes ago

The three major U.S. stock indexes ended the week on a high note, but it wasn’t enough to close in the green over the five sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower for a second straight week, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite had three-week winning streaks snapped.

For the week, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq ended down 0.9%, 1.4%, and 2.1%, respectively.

Since the start of the year, the Nasdaq is up about 13%, while the S&P 500 and Dow are a respective 12% and 11% higher.

–Aaron Rennie

Just 7 of 30 Dow Components in Red Today

FROM 54 minutes ago

The Dow Jones Industrial Average looks likely to close lower for the week, but it is ending it on a high note.

The blue-chip Dow, which entered Friday down 1.8% for the week, is up 1.1%, or more than 550 points, in the final hour of trading.

Just seven of the 30 Dow components are in negative territory today, with Apple (AAPL) the biggest decliner at 0.9%.

–Aaron Rennie

Materials Is Top-Performing S&P 500 Sector Friday

FROM 1 hr 57 min ago

The S&P 500’s positive end to a negative week is being powered by the Materials sector.

Materials shares are leading the charge for S&P 500 Friday, with the sector up 2.1% with about two hours to go in the session.

Seven of the 11 sectors are in the green today, helping the benchmark index rise 0.5% overall.

Copper mining giant Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and lithium and specialty chemicals firm Albemarle (ALB) are the top-performing individual stocks in the Materials sector, up 7.7% and 6.7%, respectively.

–Aaron Rennie

What the $20 Burrito Conversation Says About the Economy

FROM 2 hr 57 min ago

A specter is haunting the U.S. economy—the specter of a $20 burrito.

Burrito discourse heated up this month when Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for the conservative activist group Turning Point USA, posted on social media that one of the college students in his organization told him, “A burrito shouldn’t cost $20.”

Kolvet’s post exploded into the discourse about the rising cost of living, reaching 3.7 million views on the X platform, and provoked debate about which economic policies were more to blame for the rising cost of food.

“It just feels like basic things cost too much,” Kolvet wrote.

The complaint symbolized the widespread feeling among consumers that prices for basic items have risen too much, too fast, since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Gold Heads for Its Best Month Since 1999 as the Dollar Wobbles

FROM 3 hr 39 min ago

Gold is closing in on its biggest monthly gain since the Dotcom era as a sagging dollar and mounting U.S. debt worries send investors scurrying for alternatives.

Gold futures rose 2.2% Friday to about $4,670 an ounce, up more than 5% for the week and more than 13% in August—on pace for the metal’s strongest month since 1999.

The rally picked up speed after the Treasury Department said Wednesday it would at least double its buybacks of 10- to 30-year government debt to steady a selloff in longer-dated Treasurys. The move initially nudged yields lower—they later bounced back and then some—but pushed the dollar down about 1% against a basket of currencies since Tuesday.

The buyback plan also landed just as U.S. government debt topped $40 trillion for the first time, helping revive what traders call the “debasement trade”—buying assets expected to hold their value as government currencies lose purchasing power. Bitcoin, the other big winner, jumped 23% this week to its highest level since May.

Despite the comeback, gold remains below its nearly $5,600 record from earlier this year.

–Peter Gratton

BJ’s Sees Strong Results Driven by ‘Value We Offer at the Pump,’ Says CEO

FROM 3 hr 57 min ago

BJ’s Wholesale Club posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter. CEO Bob Eddy attributed it in large part to the “value we offer at the pump.”

Shares of BJ’s (BJ) were up 4.5% in recent trading after the wholesale retailer’s second-quarter profit, revenue, and comparable club sales growth topped analysts’ estimates and the company raised its full-year earnings forecast. 

The Marlborough, Mass.-based firm reported adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share on revenue that jumped nearly 16% year-over-year to $6.23 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $1.17 per share and $5.95 billion, respectively. Comparable club sales of 11.9% topped estimates of 10.2%, while comparable club sales excluding gasoline sales rose 3.1%, ahead of expectations of 2.5%. As a result, BJ’s lifted its 2026 adjusted EPS projection to $4.60 to $4.80 from the prior $4.40 to $4.60. 

“Gas prices remained elevated during the quarter and our members continued to seek us out for the value we offer at the pump,” Eddy said on Friday’s earnings call, according to an AlphaSense transcript. “Pump gallons were up double digits, accelerating from the strong results we saw in Q1 and a clear signal of the share we continue to take. Gas prices are about as visible as it gets for consumers. There’s a price on every street corner and our members know that we offer great value.”

Eddy said  the “K-shaped economy persists,” and although BJ’s “drove comp growth across all income cohorts … the vast majority of our growth continues to be driven by our higher income members, which is consistent with what we’ve seen for some time now.”

Shares of BJ’s are up roughly 6% since the start of the year. 

–Aaron Rennie

Here’s How Much Salesforce Stock Is Expected to Move After Earnings

FROM 4 hr 5 min ago

Salesforce is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, with the software maker’s stock seen potentially reaching its highest point since January following the results.

Based on current options pricing, Salesforce (CRM) shares are seen swinging up to 7% in either direction by the end of the week. From Thursday’s close, a move of that size could see shares rise as high as $220, their highest point since January, or drag them below $191.

Shares of Salesforce have lost more than a fifth of their value since the year began. Salesforce, along with many other software stocks, have been pressured by fears that growing AI adoption could lead companies to build their own tools and cut back spending on external software.

Earlier this month, JPMorgan analysts relaunched their coverage of Salesforce with an “overweight” rating and $250 price target, anticipating an acceleration in Salesforce’s core business in the second half of the year, and that AI disruption could be “limited to a small portion of the business.” 

Read the full article here.

–Aaron McDade

Another Big Korean Tech Company Is Buying Back Shares

FROM 4 hr 31 min ago

For the second time this week, a major South Korean technology company has announced a massive stock buyback plan.

Samsung Electronics on Friday said its board approved a 2026 share repurchase plan valued at roughly 90 trillion won ($64.95 billion) to 110 trillion won ($79.38 billion)—about five times larger than its previous record and the largest ever by a Korean firm. 

On Wednesday, memory-chip rival SK Hynix (SKHY) said it planned to buy back 40 trillion South Korean won ($28.79 billion) worth of shares over the next three months. 

While Samsung doesn’t have U.S.-listed shares like SK Hynix, it is a big holding of a popular exchange-traded fund, the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM), which invests in companies focused on dynamic random access memory (DRAM), high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and NAND flash—what Roundhill calls “the bottleneck of the AI revolution.” At more than 25.5%, Samsung is the largest holding of the ETF, followed closely by Micron Technology (MU) and SK Hynix. 

Shares of Samsung rose nearly 4% in South Korean trading today and have soared 135% since the start of the year amid the AI boom.

–Aaron Rennie

Bitcoin, Crypto-Related Stocks Extend Rally After Show of Support From Trump

FROM 5 hr 13 min ago

Cryptocurrencies and related stocks are surging Friday, extending their recent rally after a string of positive developments. 

The price of bitcoin surged for a third straight day, trading just under $77,000 recently after climbing above $79,000 overnight to its highest level in three months. The cryptocurrency has gained some 20% this week, putting it on pace to post its best week in years. 

Cryptocurrency-related stocks also climbed. Shares of Strategy (MSTR), the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, were up 7% in recent trading. Coinbase (COIN) was up nearly 8%, making it one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 on Friday when markets gained broadly. 

The gains follow encouraging comments from President Donald Trump, and a series of small regulatory wins for the cryptocurrency industry. 

Analysts at Jefferies told clients in a note yesterday that they believe it “remains premature to declare that the next leg higher has begun” for bitcoin and other top digital assets. “We’re focused on the Sept. 15 Senate cloture vote on the Clarity Act and a potential unveiling of an SEC innovation exemption for tokenized securities,” they wrote. 

–Kara Greenberg

Ross Stores Stock Rises After Lifting Guidance Amid Strong Discount Demand

FROM 5 hr 52 min ago

Ross Stores (ROST) stock jumped on Friday after the discount retailer topped quarterly estimates and raised its full-year outlook, citing strong consumer demand for discounted offerings. 

The off-price retailer’s revenue increased 13% last quarter to $6.3 billion, with same-store sales increasing 10% year-over-year. Net income rose 68% to $851 million, or $2.66 per diluted share. A $253 million tariff refund boosted earnings by about 60 cents per share, but profits still would have exceeded the company’s guidance without the refund. 

The company attributed its double-digit sales growth to increased traffic, with contribution from both an increase in new customers and higher engagement from existing customers. “These trends reinforce our belief that the actions we are taking are not only driving the current business performance but that we can continue to build on our early successes,” CEO Jim Conroy said in the company’s earnings release.

Ross Stores raised its same-store sales forecast for the third and fourth quarters, as well as its full-year earnings guidance. The company now expects same-store sales to grow between 6% and 7% in the current quarter, and between 4% and 5% in the fourth. Fiscal-year earnings are expected to be in the range of $8.61 to $8.77, up from a prior estimates between $7.50 and $7.74. The company also upped its full-year expansion plans to 115 new locations from last quarter’s forecast of 110. 

Ross Stores shares were up about 4% Friday morning. The stock has risen about 32% so far this year. 

–Colin Laidley

Nvidia Reports Earnings Wednesday. Here’s How Much the Stock Is Expected To Move

FROM 6 hr 53 min ago

Nvidia is scheduled to post earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, with traders anticipating a big move from the AI chip leader’s stock.

Based on current options pricing, traders expect Nvidia (NVDA) shares could swing up to 6% in either direction by the end of the week following the results. A move of that size from Thursday’s close could push the shares as high as $229, approaching their May record just above $236, or drag the stock back below $205.

Nvidia shares have climbed 16% since the start of the year, but are still down some 8% from their May highs after a broader pullback in the AI trade amid concerns around the sustainability of spending on America’s AI buildout.

Though analysts widely expect Nvidia to post strong results, quarterly reports have tended to be a sell-the-news event for the chipmaker. Nvidia shares fell the day after each of the company’s last four quarterly reports, and Morgan Stanley analysts told clients recently that they “aren’t necessarily optimistic that trend reverses.” Investor attention could focus on Nvidia’s defense of its market share in the face of growing competition, along with worries about circular financing, Morgan Stanley wrote.

Nvidia is projected to report a record $92.16 billion in second-quarter revenue, along with adjusted earnings of $2.09 per share, both roughly doubling year-over-year. $85.67 billion of that revenue is expected to come from Nvidia’s data center segment, up 108% from a year ago, per Visible Alpha estimates.

Analysts remain overwhelmingly bullish on Nvidia stock despite the recent volatility, with all but one of the 13 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha recommending buying the stock. Their mean target of $296 would suggest more than 35% upside from Thursday’s close.

–Aaron McDade

Stock Futures Rise To Close Out Volatile Week

FROM 7 hr 52 min ago

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5% in premarket trading on Friday.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%.

Nasdaq 100 contracts advanced 0.7%.