Wall Street Ticks Up As Consumer Sentiment Improves; Gold Hits Record Highs, Boosting Mining Stocks: What's Driving Markets Friday?

Wall Street edged slightly higher on Friday, with major equity indices showing modest gains at midday in New York.

Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are on track to record their best week since October 2023, driven by stronger-than-expected economic data that eased earlier concerns of a recession. If they close in the green, they will secure the seventh straight positive session.

On Friday, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index for August exceeded expectations, adding to a series of positive data, including lower-than-anticipated jobless claims and strong retail sales growth reported the day before.

Gold was the standout performer, climbing 1.5% to reach a record high of $2,500 per ounce, as traders positioned themselves in anticipation of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.

This surge in gold prices boosted gold mining stocks, with the VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX advancing over 2%.

Oil prices, however, dipped 1.6% amid reduced geopolitical tensions as Gaza ceasefire negotiations resumed in Doha, Qatar. In a joint statement, the United States, Qatar, and Egypt announced that Washington had presented a new proposal that has the potential to rapidly close gaps and lead to a swift agreement.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin BTC/USD rose 1.6%, reaching $58,368.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Russell 2000	2,142.44	0.2%
S&P 500	5,552.80	0.1%
Dow Jones	40,619.51	0.1%
Nasdaq 100	19,507.26	0.1%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.1% higher to $553.81.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA also rose 0.1% to $406.32.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ edged 0.2% up to $475.31.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM ticked 0.2% higher to $212.42.
• The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC, The Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF, and The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY outperformed, up by 0.5%. The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE lagged, down by 0.5%.

Friday’s Stock Movers

• H&R Block Inc. HRB rallied 15% following stronger-than-expected results last quarter.
• Other stocks moving on earnings were Amcor plc AMCR, down 5%, Applied Materials Inc. AMAT, down 1.5%, Coherent Corp. COHR, up 8%, Flower Foods Inc. FLO, down 0.3%, and Globant S.A. GLOB, up 4.9%.
• Repligen Corp. RGEN dropped 13% after making an acquisition offer to Maravai LifeSciences Holdings MRVI, a company specializing in vaccine capping reagents with a market value of $2.2 billion. Following the offer, Maravai’s shares surged by 23%.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.