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Stocks moved slightly higher in early trading Friday, putting major indexes on track for more record highs, as a busy week of earnings reports and trade-related news draws to a close.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each up 0.2% recently, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was near unchanged. The S&P 500 has closed at a record high every day this week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has hit a new high in eight of the last nine sessions, including yesterday. The Dow, which lost ground on Thursday, is less than 1% away from its first record high since December.
Market sentiment has been boosted recently by generally strong corporate earnings, encouraging economic data and hopes that tariffs won’t be as damaging as many initially feared. The earnings and economic calendar is relatively quiet today but picks up significantly in the coming days. Several major technology companies headline a jam-packed earnings reporting schedule next week, while the Federal Reserve is due to announce a decision on interest rates, closely watched reports on economic growth and inflation are scheduled for release, and trade deals could be announced ahead of an August 1 deadline for the U.S. to impose hefty tariffs on leading trade partners.
Intel (INTC) shares were down nearly 10% in early trading Friday after the beleaguered chipmaker late yesterday reported a loss in the second quarter, as the company intensifies its restructuring efforts. Among other companies on the move after releasing quarterly results, shares of Deckers Outdoor (DECK), the owner of footwear brands Ugg and Hoka, jumped 12% to pace S&P 500 gainers, while shares of Spectrum parent Charter Communications (CHTR) dropped 15%, leading decliners in the benchmark index.
Shares of mega-cap technology companies were mostly higher this morning, led by a 2% gain for EV maker Tesla (TSLA), which had fallen sharply yesterday after reporting disappointing results. Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) were all slightly higher, while Amazon (AMZN) edged lower. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Meta are all due to report earnings next week.
Bitcoin was at $116,100 recently, down from about $119,000 yesterday afternoon. The digital currency surged above $120,000 early this week, not far from its all-time high of $123,000, after the approval last week of landmark legislation that aims to bring cryptocurrencies more into the financial mainstream.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, advanced 0.4% to 97.80. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.42% this morning, up from 4.41% at yesterday’s close.
Gold futures were down 0.9% at $3,345 an ounce, losing ground for the third straight day after hitting their highest level in a month earlier this week. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, slipped 0.1% to $65.95 per barrel.
