Wall Street closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting intraday record highs, on bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September, while big banks fell after reporting mixed results.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 climbed 0.55% to end the session at 5,615.35 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.63% at 18,398.45 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62% to 40,000.90 points. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, the Nasdaq added 0.2% and the Dow rose 1.6%.
Market Movers
JPMorgan Chase reported second-quarter earnings of $6.12 a share, topping analysts’ estimates for $5.88. The stock fell 1.2% after net interest income of $22.75 billion missed forecasts.
Wells Fargo slid 6% after the San Francisco bank reported a decline in second-quarter net interest income, missing Wall Street estimates. The bank reported NII in the period of $11.9 billion, below analysts’ estimates of $12.1 billion. It also was a drop from the $13.2 billion reported in the same period last year.
Citigroup posted second-quarter earnings of $1.52 a share, beating Wall Street estimates for $1.39. The stock dropped 1.8%. Net interest income of $13.49 billion in the second quarter fell 3% from a year earlier.
Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY, was rising after reporting second-quarter earnings, revenue, and NII that topped Wall Street expectations. Shares rose 5.2%.
Tesla rose 3% to $248.32 even after UBS analyst Joseph Spak downgraded Tesla to Sell from Neutral, but raised his target price to $197 from $147. The shares fell 8.4% on Thursday andsnapped their 11-day winning streak. A report from Bloomberg Thursday said the electric-vehicle maker was delaying its planned robotaxi event. The drop Thursday was the stock’s largest percentage decline since Jan. 25, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
AT&T declined 0.3%. The telecommunications firm saidcustomer data was illegally downloadedfrom its workspace on a third-party cloud platform. AT&T learned of the breach in April. The company has launched an investigation.
Fastenal moved 2% higher. The distributor of industrial and construction supplies reportedsecond-quarter salesof $1.91 billion, up from $1.88 billion a year earlier and matching estimates. “Net sales were [up] with underlying market activity remaining challenging,” said Fastenal CEO Dan Florness, adding that a weaker mix of products hit margins.
Carvana gained 4.9% to $136.24. Analysts at BTIG initiated coverage on shares of the online car seller with aBuy ratingand price target of $155.
Array Technologies, which makes ground-mounting systems used in solar energy projects, rose 8.7% to $11.76. The stock wasupgraded to Buyfrom Neutral at Citi. Solar stocks have gotten a boost fromcooling consumer inflation data. The industry has seen demand curbed as interest rates remain elevated.
Market News
OpenAI working on new reasoning technology under code name ‘Strawberry’
ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working on a novel approach to its artificial intelligence models in a project code-named “Strawberry,” according to a person familiar with the matter and internal documentation reviewed by Reuters.
The project, details of which have not been previously reported, comes as the Microsoft-backed startup races to show that the types of models it offers are capable of delivering advanced reasoning capabilities.
Musk donates to super pac working to elect Trump
Billionaire Elon Musk has donated to a super pac working to elect former U.S. President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources.
The report did not indicate how much Musk donated but added it was "a sizable amount" given to a group called America PAC.
