- US stocks ticked higher Friday but were on track for a losing week.
- Oil prices and bond yields surged during the week, with Brent crude up 0.75% Friday.
US stocks inched higher in the final trading session of the week. The major indexes are coming off three consecutive days of losses and remain on track to finish the week in the red as bond yields jump on hawkish Federal Reserve commentary and surging oil prices.
The Fed on Wednesday opted to leave its benchmark rate unchanged, but communicated that one more hike is still on the table before the end of the year.
After policymakers indicated that rates could remain higher for longer into 2024, bond yields surged, with the 10-year Treasury hitting 4.49%, its highest level since 2007. The 2-year Treasury also jumped to its highest point since 2006.
Meanwhile, new data from the Labor Department this week showed weekly jobless claims fell 20,000 to 201,000 for the week ending September 16, the lowest mark since January.
"[The] Initial Claims report was well below both expectations and 2022 – present averages," DataTrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas wrote in a note. "Only 10 of the last 90 weeks have seen lower readings. The US labor market remains healthy. Markets responded accordingly, and we still think it is too early to buy longer-dated bonds."
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:
- S&P 500: 4,340.85, up 0.25%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,076.65, up 0.02% (+6.23 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 13,288.75, up 0.48%
Here's what else is going on:
- Cathie Wood said Ark Invest skipped Arm's IPO because valuation was on the "high side."
- Jeffrey Gundlach said stocks are "pretty overvalued" and a recession could hit in the next nine months.
- Roughly 93% of global central banks are exploring digital currencies. That could boost de-dollarization.
- A small New York hedge fund has secretly managed $7 billion for a Russian oligarch for over a decade, the SEC said.
- Billionaire Bill Gross warned of more pain to come for bond investors, with fixed income on track for unprecedented three-year slump.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- Oil prices climbed, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.4% to $90.90 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, inched higher 1.1% to $94.35 a barrel.
- Gold edged higher 0.4% to $1,947.70 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was flat at 4.48%.
- Bitcoin climbed 0.06% to $26,606.