US stocks ticked upward Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed at 40,000 for the first time ever.
The Dow rose 0.3% to score its record high. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) ticked up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.1%, but all the gauges notched weekly wins.
Investor enthusiasm for interest rate cuts rose this week in light of April's encouraging inflation data. The run-up in stocks then hit a bump on Thursday in the wake of warnings from Fed officials that rates are likely to stay at historic highs for a while. While Fedspeak rattled bets on the likelihood of a September cut, it wasn't enough to stop the indexes from rising higher on Friday.
That put the spotlight on appearances by Fed officials. On Friday, US Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman reiterated her view that the central bank has not made progress this year on curbing inflation, she said in a speech in Nashville, Tennessee. Bowman said she is willing to raise rates again at a future meeting if incoming data shows further stalling.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell was scheduled to deliver remarks at Georgetown University’s Law School graduation this Sunday, but he will now be speaking through a pre-recorded video, after he tested positive for COVID-19, a central bank spokesperson said on Friday.
In individual movers, Reddit (RDDT) shares jumped 10%, not far off its highest close of $65.11 hit in March. The social media platform has signed a partnership with OpenAI that will see ChatGPT integrate content from its forums.
Meanwhile, GameStop (GME) shares sank over 19% after the games retailer said it expects first quarter sales to drop as shoppers shift to online outlets. Shares in the meme stock soared at the start of the week in an echo of the 2021 frenzy, but the rally has turned into a slide in recent days.
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Hamza Shaban
The Dow crosses 40,000 for first time
Stocks finished the session on a high note as the Dow pushed through a key 40,000 milestone and all three major indexes notched weekly wins.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.3%, or more than 100 points, closing at a record high of 40,003.59. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) ticked up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.1%.
Hamza Shaban
A look at the week ahead
Corporate earnings are winding down for the season but several key players are scheduled to report next week. Among the big names are Zoom (ZM), Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), and Magnificent Seven darling Nvidia (NVDA), whose stock has surged this year as the company capitalizes on the swelling demand for AI technology.
Several of the tech giants have forecast growing capital expenditures tied to data and AI infrastructure. Nvidia's quarter will offer the latest snapshot of the tech sector's growing appetite for AI hardware.
A slowing earnings calendar puts the spotlight on other market-moving events. Next week will bring two days of Fed officials testifying on Capitol Hill.
Central bankers have reiterated that their goal is to bring inflation down to 2%, even as their tightening campaign has put pressure on some areas of the economy. But some lawmakers have criticized the Fed's policymaking, focusing on elevated home prices and the impacts higher rates are having on first-time homebuyers.
Investors will also glean new insight into the Fed's deliberations with the release of the May policy meeting minutes on Wednesday. Friday will bring fresh survey data on how consumers are feeling about the state of the economy as the battle to clamp down on inflation continues
Yahoo Finance's Brent Sanchez has a graphical breakdown of what to watch next week:
Hamza Shaban
The meme rally spreads to other stocks as the GameStop trade unwinds
While the surging gains of meme stock kings GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC) have faded at the end of the week, other tickers have continued to climb as investor sentiment swings to excitement.
The EV-related startup Faraday Future (FFIE) gained 122% on Friday. The stock is on pace to gain more than 3,000% for the week. Over the past 24 hours, Faraday Future was the third-most-mentioned stock on Reddit's WallStreetBets forum behind the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Nvidia (NVDA), according to web data company Thinknum.
Other heavily shorted stocks that moved higher during the session include Crown ElectroKinetics (CRKN), up more than 70%. The Oregon-based fiber optics and smart glass small-cap company is on pace to end the week up a whopping 915%.
Greenwave Technology Solutions (GWAV) was up more than 500% for the week. The micro-cap, Virginia-based metal recycling company gained 90% on Thursday as the rest of the overall meme rally was unwinding.
And SunPower (SPWR) was on pace to close out the week up 29% after soaring on Monday and Tuesday. The solar-related stock gained 5% on Thursday, decoupling from GameStop's three-day downward spiral.
Hamza Shaban
OpenAI reportedly disbands safety team
OpenAI’s Superalignment team, a unit tasked with wrestling with the long-term risks of sophisticated AI systems, has been effectively disbanded, according to multiple reports, following the departure of the team's founders earlier this week.
OpenAI is now spreading the team's efforts to other parts of the company, Bloomberg reports. The move comes after a string of high-profile exits and leaves lingering questions about the AI company's approach to safety and balancing its work to monetize AI initiatives.
OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who had previously clashed with CEO Sam Altman, said he was leaving the company on Tuesday.
The recent shakeups come after last year's high profile ouster of Altman, who disagreed with members of the board over questions over how to safey advance AI. He was eventually reinstated.
The superalignment team, which was stood up last July, was focused on ensuring the safety of highly capable AI systems that some believe could eventually outsmart humans. At the time, OpenAI said it would dedicate 20% of its computer power towards the team's work.
Hamza Shaban
Stocks trending in afternoon trading
Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during afternoon trading on Friday.
Take-Two Interactive (TTWO): The video game developer that owns publishers Rockstar Games and 2K rose by 1% during afternoon trading after revealing that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI will be released in the fall of 2025. The company also disclosed that it expects net bookings for the fiscal year to come in at $5.55 billion to $5.65 billion, down from the $8 billion it previously projected, although some analysts said the updated launch date for the flagship title gives investors fresh clarity.
Cracker Barrel (CBRL): Shares of the Southern-themed restaurant and gift shop fell by 12% after the company cut its dividend plans by nearly 80%. The announcement comes as the chain switches its focus to upgrading the brand and physical locations.
Reddit (RDDT): The forum-based social network gained more than 14% during morning trading following news of a partnership with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind the popular ChatGPT. As part of the deal, OpenAI will become an advertising partner for Reddit and will give Reddit the ability to use OpenAI's technology to build tools and features. In turn, ChatGPT will integrate Reddit's content into its system.
Hamza Shaban
Stocks tread water in afternoon trading
The major indexes are close to where they started in afternoon trading Friday as Wall Street's bid to push the Dow past 40,000 pauses, at least momentarily.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) held just below the key milestone after touching the level for the first time during Thursday's trading. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped just under the flatline, but all the gauges were on track for weekly wins.
Jennifer Schonberger
Fed Chair Jay Powell tests positive for COVID-19
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has tested positive for COVID-19, a central bank spokesperson disclosed on Friday.
The spokesperson said Powell received the diagnosis Friday, saying he tested positive “late yesterday “and is experiencing symptoms.”
The Fed noted that Powell would no longer be attending Georgetown University’s Law School graduation, where he was scheduled to deliver remarks in person this Sunday. Instead he will do so via a pre-recorded video.
"Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, he is staying away from others and working at home," the Fed said in a statement. Powell has tested positive for the virus before, in 2023.
The video game retailer said it expects sales to be in the range of $872 million-$892 million in its fiscal first quarter, down from $1.24 billion in the same period a year prior. Wall Street had expected revenue of just over $1 billion for the quarter, according to data from Bloomberg.
With Friday's decline, the stock is now below where it opened Monday morning after the reemergence of Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty," on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend. Gill's bull case for GameStop ignited the meme stock rally back in 2021, and the stock more than doubled by Tuesday morning.
"I'm not seeing anything in the preannouncement that tells me that the business is turning around," Wedbush managing director Michael Pachter told Yahoo Finance. "But at least they'll raise enough cash to last them another three or four years if they, in fact, continue to fail and try to find a new strategy."
Hamza Shaban
Reddit's stock surges after deal with OpenAI
By signing a major partnership with OpenAI, the AI company behind ChatGPT, Reddit (RDDT) scored a major victory in its plans to sell its unique archive of posts to companies eager for troves of content to train their large language models.
On Friday, shares of the forum-based social media company rose more than 14% as investors cheered on the deal. The partnership will bring Reddit content into ChatGPT and OpenAI's new products, drawing from Reddit's data to give the chatbot real-time content on recent topics.
In turn, Reddit will receive AI-powered features for redditors and moderators, the company said in an announcement Thursday. OpenAI will also become an advertising partner on Reddit, boosting the company's main source of revenue.
“Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up-to-date human conversations about anything and everything. Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit," said Steve Huffman, Reddit co-founder and CEO.
Reddit (RDDT): The forum-based social network gained more than 14% during morning trading following news of a partnership with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind the popular ChatGPT. As part of the deal, OpenAI will become an advertising partner for Reddit and will give Reddit the ability to use OpenAI's technology to build tools and features. In turn, ChatGPT will integrate Reddit's content into its system.
Robinhood (HOOD): The financial services company popular with retail stock traders rose 6% Friday morning following a double upgrade from Bank of America, from Underperform to Buy. Analysts pointed to rebounding retail engagement and a broader trend toward mobile trading that the young company stands to benefit from.
Cracker Barrel (CBRL): Shares of the restaurant chain fell by nearly 15% after the company cut its dividend plans by nearly 80%. The announcement comes as the Southern-themed eatery and gift store switches its focus to upgrading its brand and physical locations.
Hamza Shaban
Stocks little changed as Dow reaches for 40,000
The major indexes didn't move much at the open Friday as Wall Street was poised for the Dow to make another attempt at surpassing a key milestone of 40,000.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) held steady on the heels of touching the level for the first time during Thursday's trading. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also gained 0.1%, with all the gauges on track for positive ends to the week.
Reddit stock pops premarket on OpenAI deal
Reddit stock (RDDT) is up 14% premarket on a new deal with OpenAI whereby OpenAI will gain access to Reddit's data to help build out its models.
This deal shouldn't come as a surprise to Reddit investors — the company recently struck a similar deal with Alphabet (GOOGL). Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman told me last week that more deals like this are likely as part of the platform's reinvention.
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Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of social networking site Truth Social, slumped before the opening bell Friday after former President Donald Trump was convicted in his hush money trial. A New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
The Fed's stance of holding interest rates higher for longer likely won't be shaken following a fresh reading from the central bank's favored inflation gauge.
Treasury yields (^TYX, ^TNX, ^FVX) are on the decline this morning after inflation data from the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) Index came in line with expectations with April's core PCE rising 0.2% month-over-month and 2.8% year-over-year. As inflation slows but price pressures remain a big risk, what does this print mean for the bond market? JPMorgan US CIO for Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities Kay Herr sits down in-studio with Yahoo Finance's Catalysts to look deeper into April's inflation data and what this means for the Federal Reserve's inflation rate target. "If you look underneath in some of the details, if you look on a three-month annualized basis, we've gone from a 4.4% number in March down to 3.46% in April. That's a pretty meaningful step down," Herr explains. "If you look on a month-over-month [basis], in April that was running 0.33%, March we're running 0.249%. And then on an average monthly basis in the first quarter, things were at about 0.36%, for April [it's] 0.25%. So a reasonable step down moving in line with what the Fed thinks." Herr underlines the Fed's dual mandate objective in regulators' decision on cutting interest rates or holding them higher for longer: "We're going to start to see a little bit of softness in in the labor market. And that's going to lead the Fed... to move toward cutting rates, yes."For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
As global markets navigate through various economic challenges, the Singapore market remains a focal point for investors looking for stable returns, particularly through dividend stocks. In light of current market conditions, selecting stocks with robust dividend yields and strong fundamentals is crucial for those looking to enhance their investment portfolios in May 2024.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Friday and posted a weekly loss as investors awaited an OPEC+ meeting on Sunday that will determine the fate of the producer group's output cuts. Brent futures for July delivery were down 24 cents, or 0.3%, to $81.62 a barrel, while the more liquid August contract was down 77 cents, or 0.8%, at $81.11. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 92 cents, or 1.2%, at $76.99.
An already verdant May for Wall Street finished with another push higher as stocks rallied Friday after a report showed inflation is at least not worsening. The main measure of the U.S. stock market’s health set an all-time high late in the month after clawing back all its losses from a rough April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 575 points, or 1.5%, while sagging prices for some big technology stocks held back the Nasdaq composite.
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese authorities spent 9.79 trillion yen ($62.23 billion)intervening in the foreign exchange market to support the yen over the past month, in moves that kept the currency from testing new lows but are unlikely to reverse longer-term declines. The Ministry of Finance data released on Friday confirmed the suspicions of traders and analysts that Tokyo entered the market in two rounds of massive dollar-selling intervention shortly after the yen hit a 34-year low of 160.245 per dollar on April 29, and again in the early hours of May 2 in Tokyo. "This was larger than expected, underscoring Japan's resolve to ease the pain of imported inflation," said Daisaku Ueno, chief FX strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
BEIJING (Reuters) -China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell in May, keeping alive calls for fresh stimulus as a protracted property crisis in the world's second-largest economy continues to weigh on business, consumer and investor confidence. "I think the data particularly reflects soft domestic demand, the housing sector continued to worsen and retail sales were not strong," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
It's been a banner year for the major U.S. stock indexes, but one economically sensitive corner of the market sticks out as a sore spot. The Dow Jones Transportation Average has fallen about 5% so far this year, a significant contrast with the 9% year-to-date rise for the benchmark S&P 500 and the 1% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which topped 40,000 points for the first time this month. While major indexes including the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow have all set new all-time highs this year, the Dow transports have yet to top their November 2021 record, and are some 12% below that level.
Salesforce (CRM) shares dipped on Thursday after the company missed revenue estimates and reported a weak outlook. Wedbush Managing Director Dan Ives joins Market Domination to discuss his perspective on the company's future trajectory. Ives notes that the current pressure on Salesforce represents "a bump in the road," characterizing its guidance as conservative to "clear the deck" for the next quarter. He emphasizes that Salesforce remains "a gold-standard tech play" and now is an ideal opportunity for investors to acquire the stock. "This is a situation where they have it all in front of them, and I just view this as a speed bump, not the start of a structural decline," Ives tells Yahoo Finance, expressing confidence in the company's long-term prospects. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Angel Smith