S&P 500 Erases Weekly Losses, Nasdaq 100 Ends 4-Week Slide As Bulls Regain Momentum: Friday's Stock Movers At The Close

The S&P 500 index rose 0.4% to close at 5,344 points on Friday, notching its second consecutive day of gains and fully wiping out the weekly losses in what initially appeared to be a sharply bearish and volatile week.

On Monday, the S&P 500 opened more than 5% lower than the previous Friday’s close as recession fears reverberated through the markets. Bulls then regained momentum in the aftermath of a panicked Monday, bolstered by a series of positive catalysts that calmed volatility and alleviated economic fears.

On Wednesday, the dovish stance of the Bank of Japan curbed short-covering flows into the yen, halting the unwinding of the carry trade that was dangerously draining liquidity from riskier assets.

On Thursday, lower-than-expected weekly jobless claims reassured investors that concerns over a rising unemployment rate in July might have been overblown, as temporary factors likely played a role.

The Nasdaq 100, as tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ, rose 0.6% to 18,513 points on Friday, ending the week up 0.4% and snapping a four-week losing streak.

On Thursday, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin confirmed that fears of labor market layoffs might be exaggerated, noting that his business contacts report neither significant hiring nor firing activity.

Boston Fed President Susan Collins suggested that it may soon be appropriate to start easing monetary policy if economic data continues as she expects.

Interest rate markets now assign a 50-50 probability to either a 25-basis-point or 50-basis-point rate cut in September, according to the CME Group‘s FedWatch tool. This marks a sharp reassessment, as traders had fully priced in the larger rate cut at the beginning of the week amid recession fears.

Friday’s major gainers in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY were:

Name	1-day %chg
Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM	10.8%
Expedia Group, Inc. EXPE	10.2%
Eli Lilly and Company LLY	5.6%
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. PANW	4.4%
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. TTWO	4.3%

Friday’s top performing stocks within the Nasdaq 100 index were:

Name	1-day %chg
The Trade Desk, Inc. TTD	12.4%
Palo Alto Networks, Inc.	4.4%
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.	4.3%
Monster Beverage Corporation MNST	2.3%
Synopsys, Inc. SNPS	2.0%

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Illustration generated using artificial intelligence via MidJourney.