S&P 500, Nasdaq close lower as rate-hike bets pressure US stocks: Stock Market Highlights
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Dow Jones | Nasdaq | Stock Highlights: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed lower on Friday, as concerns about Nvidia pressured technology shares, while a reading on inflation failed to alter expectations for more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 lost 31.53 points, or 0.42%, to end at 7,560.87 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 230.13 points, or 0.91%, to 25,135.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.14 points, or 0.09%, to 52,343.23.
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The S&P 500 lost 31.53 points, or 0.42%, to end at 7,560.87 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 230.13 points, or 0.91%, to 25,135.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.14 points, or 0.09%, to 52,343.23.
Read: How stocks performed today
Read: How stocks performed today
Meta Platforms' employees have begun testing a prediction-market app called Takes, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The New York Federal Reserve's operations desk plans to conduct about $14 billion in reinvestment purchases between November 16 to December 11, it said in a schedule released on Friday.
Gold firmed on Friday as a largely in-line US inflation reading alleviated some bets on a bigger rate hike, but Thursday’s selloff to a more-than-a-year low kept bullion on track for a weekly decline.
Spot gold ticked up 0.1% at $3,879.71 per ounce as of 2:05 p.m. ET (1905 GMT), after briefly touching a session high of $3,922.97 when the US Producer Price Index data came out.
US gold futures for December delivery settled largely unchanged at $3,886.30 per ounce.
The director of the White House's National Economic Council is expected to depart the Trump administration in the coming weeks, Semafor reported on Friday, citing three people familiar with the plans.
usted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang turned to law firm Paul Weiss amid his rapid fall this week, tapping a firm that reached a controversial deal with President Donald Trump last year and whose own longtime leader was forced to step down in February.
Huang resigned on Thursday after more than 30 years leading the top AI chipmaker, following reports that he had extramarital affairs with three women, including an Nvidia executive and Chinese businesswoman whom US intelligence suspects of being a Chinese spy.
The US antitrust regulator filed a lawsuit on Friday in a New York federal court to block Cencora's $3.5 billion sale of its MWI Animal Health unit to veterinary supplier Covetrus, arguing the deal would raise costs for clinics and pet owners.
Covetrus responded that the FTC's case relies on a narrow and outdated view of the market.
Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said on Friday that tighter monetary policy is coming because of high inflation, in comments that suggested the US central bank may have to raise interest rates more than she initially expected.
"I think it's clear the direction that monetary policy needs to go and I would think that soon some additional firming, tightening of policy is appropriate," Collins said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
The dollar was on track for its strongest weekly rise in two months on Friday, holding near a 19-month high as rising bets on a larger Federal Reserve rate hike lifted US Treasury yields, while the yen hovered around 160 per dollar and kept traders alert for possible intervention from Tokyo.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday he was frustrated with the Commerce Department’s delay in implementing restrictions over the export of certain Nvidia chips to China.
Bessent said on CNBC that his department, along with the departments of State and Defense and the U.S. Trade Representative, were in favor of adding Megaspeed to an export control list for months but that the Commerce Department was in charge of the matter.
Shares of vVardis fell 22% in their NYSE debut on Friday, after the dental health firm raised $175 million in its initial public offering at a price below its marketed range. The Zug, Switzerland-based company's shares opened at $14. The company had sold 9.7 million shares at $18 apiece in its IPO, well below its targeted range of $21 to $24 per share.
SpaceX is launching Starship into orbit on Friday in its boldest test yet: a 22-hour flight that aims to recapture the entire rocket in a move meant to accelerate moon and Mars travel. If all goes well, the massive booster will return to its Texas pad six minutes after blasting off and the bullet-shaped spacecraft will steer there the next day. Both will be plucked from midair by mechanical arms secured to the launch tower.
Nvidia's board has approached Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas in its search for a potential successor to Jensen Huang, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Huang stepped down on Thursday after revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy, plunging the chipmaker into crisis and sending shockwaves across an AI industry he helped bankroll.
Shares of Cerebras Systems surged 23% on Friday after the artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker raised its annual revenue forecast and reported an unexpected quarterly profit, signalling growing momentum in its challenge to Nvidia in the AI chip market, according to a Reuters report. Cerebras shares jumped 23.21% to $120.44 at the opening bell before paring gains.
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Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan has called for the US central bank to clearly distinguish assets purchased to stabilise financial markets from those acquired as part of its monetary policy operations, arguing that greater transparency could help clarify the Fed's intentions during periods of financial stress.
Speaking at a bank funding conference co-hosted by the Dallas Fed, Logan proposed that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) hold securities purchased to address market disruptions in a separate account and commit to selling them as soon as possible.
She said such an approach could prevent market-functioning purchases from delivering unintended monetary stimulus.
Logan outlined several measures to create a clearer distinction between emergency interventions designed to restore orderly market conditions and asset purchases used to implement monetary policy.
The proposal addresses a longstanding challenge for the Fed: convincing investors that crisis-driven market interventions are different from quantitative easing (QE).
While policymakers have traditionally relied on communication to explain the distinction, questions remain over whether the central bank needs clearer mechanisms to unwind securities acquired during periods of market stress.
A separate account, coupled with a commitment to sell the assets promptly, could help reassure investors that liquidity support is not intended to suppress long-term bond yields or provide additional monetary stimulus.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticised General Motors (GM) for authorising a massive stock buyback programme as vehicle prices continue to hit record highs, joining Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed in questioning the automaker's capital allocation priorities.
In a letter to GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, Warren raised concerns over the company's decision last month to approve a $20 billion share repurchase programme. GM has already spent $29.5 billion on stock buybacks since 2023.
Responding to the criticism, GM said its primary focus remains investing in its business and workforce. The automaker added that it has committed more than $100 billion towards growth initiatives since 2020.
The company described the latest buyback authorisation as a reflection of confidence in its ability to finance future growth, provide its US employees with industry-leading profit-sharing benefits and return capital to shareholders.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) has proposed a major overhaul of its governing board, seeking to give the financial industry it regulates a greater role in its oversight.
Under the proposal, representatives from regulated firms would make up a majority of the board, marking a significant shift from the existing structure, which has maintained a majority of public representatives since 1996.
The current framework was introduced after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) required Finra's predecessor to implement reforms aimed at preventing potential conflicts of interest and addressing enforcement concerns.
In a proposal filed with the SEC earlier this week, Finra argued that the circumstances that prompted those reforms three decades ago have changed significantly.
The proposed changes would mark the first major restructuring of the Wall Street watchdog's board in decades, potentially reshaping how the organisation balances industry representation and independent oversight.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday he was frustrated with the Commerce Department’s delay in implementing controls over the export of certain Nvidia chips to China.
Bessent said on CNBC that his department, along with the departments of State and Defense and the U.S. Trade Representative, were in favor of adding Megaspeed to an export control list for months but that the Commerce Department was in charge of the matter.
Uber said an unauthorized party used compromised credentials at a service provider to access its data, according to a notice posted on the California attorney general's website.
The notice, dated November 10, said the provider told Uber on October 9 that the credentials had been compromised and used to access Uber's account with the provider. Uber severed its data connections with the provider and opened an investigation.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said Friday tighter monetary policy lies ahead amid high levels of inflation, which appear to be broadening out.
“I think it's clear the direction that monetary policy needs to go and I would think that soon some additional firming, tightening of policy is appropriate,” Collins said in an interview with Bloomberg’s television channel.
Interest-rate-sensitive 2-year Treasury yields are headed for the largest weekly increase in over two years on Friday after hotter-than-expected consumer price inflation and hawkish Federal Reserve commentary this week led traders to ramp up bets on faster interest rate increases. The 2-year note yield was last down 0.94 basis point at 4.855%. It earlier reached 4.892%, the highest since October 14, and is headed for the biggest weekly increase since the first week of October 2024.
Gold firmed on Friday as a US inflation reading came in largely in line with expectations, alleviating some bets on a bigger rate hike, but bullion's selloff to an over one-year low in the previous session kept it on track for a weekly decline on expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening.
Spot gold was up 0.6% at $3,898.84 per ounce as of 9:50 a.m. ET (1450 GMT), after briefly touching a session high of $3,922.97 when the US Producer Price Index data came out. US gold futures for December delivery were up 0.5% at $3,903.00 per ounce.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 193.6 points, or 0.37%, at the open to 52,490.68. The S&P 500 rose 24.5 points, or 0.32%, at the open to 7,616.85, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 41.9 points, or 0.17%, to 25,408.001.
BofA Global Research said on Friday it now expects the Federal Reserve to raise rates by another 25 basis points in January 2027, on top of its prior forecast of hikes in December and March, after a hotter-than-expected October CPI reading boosted bets on higher borrowing costs.
Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee said on Friday that inflation lodged above the Fed's 2% target has spread beyond potentially temporary energy and tariff cost shocks, with the AI buildout forcing prices higher through strong demand, and many services and health care also experiencing price increases beyond what could be explained by oil prices or import taxes.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that he would not be cowed by Iranian threats against his life, after recently moving from his Washington, DC, residence to a US military base.
"Why am I going to be afraid when our, the brave military personnel in the Gulf, President (Donald) Trump, constantly receive death threats?" Bessent said in an interview on CNBC. Iran has denied plotting to attack officials and people on US soil.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the US Federal Reserve should have an open mind and not hike rates too much, saying on Friday the "energy shock" was tied to the Iran war and that the underlying economy was very strong.
October’s producer inflation report could shape expectations for the Federal Reserve’s rate decision next month. Traders fully expect an increase and see a roughly 12% chance of a larger 50-basis-point move instead of the widely anticipated 25-basis-point hike, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
About 83.6% of the 450 S&P 500 companies that had reported results through Thursday beat expectations, according to LSEG. However, geopolitical concerns persisted as oil prices rose for a third straight session after President Donald Trump said the US did not need a deal with Iran.
Microsoft shares dropped 2.1% in premarket trading after an outage lasting more than 12 hours disrupted its services worldwide. Meanwhile, Cerebras surged over 17% after raising its 2026 revenue forecast and naming Microsoft as a customer.
Nvidia shares gained 2.6% in premarket trading after losing about 11% this week through Thursday, when Colette Kress was named interim CEO. The leadership change has intensified concerns about the wider AI trade and could bring greater scrutiny to Nvidia’s financing arrangements with other industry players.
Nasdaq 100 futures were subdued on Friday after a volatile week marked by Jensen Huang’s resignation as Nvidia CEO amid reports about his relationship with a Chinese businesswoman suspected of spying for Beijing. The Dow E-minis rose 27 points, or 0.05%, S&P 500 E-minis gained 11.75 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis slipped 7.5 points, or 0.03%.