WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session on Friday after failing to sustain an initial advance but moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages all moved to the upside, adding to the strong gains posted during Thursday's session.
The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the end of the day but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 251.68 points or 1 percent to 25,373.85, the S&P 500 advanced 52.09 points or 0.7 percent to 7,489.72 and the Dow climbed 276.97 points or 0.5 percent to 52,485.03.
For the week, the Nasdaq surged by 1.5 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow both shot up by more than 1 percent.
The strength that re-emerged on Wall Street came amid a sharp increase by shares of Amazon (AMZN), with the online retail giant soaring by 15.3 percent to a two-month closing high.
Amazon skyrocketed after the company reported better-than-expected second quarter revenue and cloud growth.
Buying interest may also have been generated in reaction to crude oil prices pulling back off their highs after an initial spike.
While U.S. crude oil futures remain up by more than 1 percent, prices had surged by more than 3 percent earlier in the day after Iran claimed it attacked two tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. military escort.
Meanwhile, traders shrugged a surge by treasury yields even as the ten-year yield bounced back to its highest levels since early 2025.
Yields jumped in reaction to the sharp increase in crude oil prices as well as comments from two of the three Federal Reserve officials that voted to raise interest rates by a quarter point at the monetary policy meeting earlier this week.
In a statement explaining his vote, Minneapolis Fed President Tushar Kashkari noted that inflation has been elevated relative to the central bank's 2 percent target for more than five years.
'If inflation remains elevated, in my view, a potential series of small policy moves would be better than waiting and eventually concluding that even bolder actions were necessary,' Kashkari said.
He added, 'On the other hand, if inflation durably fades, a strategy of small policy steps would allow the FOMC to slow or pause subsequent adjustments without unnecessary impact on the real economy.'
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack argued in a separate statement that now is the time for the Fed to act to speed the return of inflation to 2 percent.
'The longer that high inflation persists, the more challenging and costly it can be to bring it back down,' Hammack said. 'I preferred to move at our recent meeting because I did not see the current policy stance as appropriately restrictive.'
Sector News
With Amazon leading the way higher, retail stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 6.6 percent to a two-month closing high.
Oil service stocks also turned in a strong performance amid the jump in crude oil prices, resulting in a 2.5 surge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
Significant strength also emerged among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.
On the other hand, gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 3.2 percent.
Biotechnology stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index plunging by 2.9 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 2225 Index soared by 4 percent, while South Korea's Kospi skyrocketed by 17.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned mixed over the course of the session. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply lower, extending the downward move seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, surged 8.2 basis points to 4.745 percent.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
