Markets
Yiwen Lu

US stocks gain for three weeks straight despite modest loss on Friday

The S&P 500 fell 0.1% on Friday after swinging between small gains and losses but still ended the week with 0.6% gain. The Nasdaq 100, similarly, closed down 0.5% but up 1.1% for the week. On the other hand, the Russell 2000 added 0.7% on Friday but had a weekly loss of 0.1%.

The personal consumption expenditures price index for August came in 2.2%, the lowest since February 2021. This was closer to the Federal Reserve’s inflation target of 2% than last month. Core PCE — excluding energy and food — picked up slightly from last month to 2.7%.

Treasury yields fell. The dollar retreated for the fourth consecutive week.

Most S&P 500 sectors advanced. The energy sector took the lead, up 2%. On the other hand, technology, materials and health care declined. The technology select sector SPDR fund slid 0.9%.

Tech stocks were dragged by Dell, which lost 4.9%, and HP, which fell 4% on news that Bank of America Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral. Shares of Nvidia also dipped, down 2.2% on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that China urged local companies to buy domestically produced chips instead of the Nvidia ones. 

Casino stocks continued their rally on the heels of Beijing’s stimulus. Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands were among the best S&P 500 performers of the day, and both added more than 20% this week.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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