(Bloomberg) — The stock market crept higher, but stopped short of records Friday, as traders refrained from making big bets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cut decision next week. Treasuries are on track for their worst week since June.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, paring back from an earlier 0.6% jump that put it within a whisker of October’s all-time high. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.4% while the Russell 2000 gauge of smaller companies slipped after closing at a record on Thursday. Treasuries extended losses with the yield on the 10-year climbing to 4.14%.
A dated reading of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge did little to shift Wall Street’s expectations of a rate cut next week with swaps bets pointing to further easing into 2026.
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The core personal consumption expenditures price index, a measure that excludes food and energy, rose 0.2% in September, inline with economists expectations for a third-straight 0.2% increase in the Fed’s favored core index. That would keep the year-over-year figure hovering a little below 3%, a sign that inflationary pressures are stable, yet sticky.
“Overall, the data was consistent with another 25 basis point Fed cut next week, but it doesn’t suggest any urgency for the Fed to accelerate the pace of cuts in 2026,” said BMO’s Ian Lyngen.
A December rate cut is a not given for every Fed watcher. BlackRock CIO of Global Fixed Income Rick Rieder told Bloomberg Television before the data that he is expecting some dissents and disagreement at the next meeting.
Meanwhile, sentiment toward technology stocks got a boost after Nvidia Corp. partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported strong sales. Moore Threads Technology Co., a leading Chinese AI chipmaker, jumped 425% in its Shanghai trading debut. Shares of Netflix Inc. slid after agreeing to a tie-up with Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.
In a sign that institutional appetite for the world’s largest cryptocurrency remains subdued, BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) recorded its longest streak of weekly withdrawals since debuting in January 2024.
Investors pulled more than $2.7 billion from the exchange-traded fund over the five weeks to Nov. 28, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With an additional $113 million of redemptions on Thursday, the ETF is now on pace for a sixth straight week of net outflows. A drop in Bitcoin deepened, falling below $90,000 on Friday.
What Bloomberg Strategists say…
There are two things stand in the way of a year-end rally — and both are on display today. One is the third downdraft in crypto prices in the last two weeks, which has sent Bitcoin back below $90,000. Such a pullback served to dampen risk sentiment on two previous occasions in November.
—Edward Harrison, Macro Strategist, Markets Live
For the full analysis, click here.
WTI crude steadied around $60 a barrel. Gold erased earlier gains.
Corporate News
SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to acquire DigitalBridge Group Inc., a private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers, to take advantage of an AI-driven boom in digital infrastructure. Netflix Inc. agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. in a historic combination, joining the world’s dominant paid streaming service with one of Hollywood’s oldest and most revered studios. Southwest Airlines Co. lowered its operating profit target for the full year, citing the fallout from the recent US government shutdown as well as higher fuel prices. Health-care group Cooper Cos’ shares jumped in premarket trading after a guidance beat and the launch of a strategic review. Moore Threads Technology Co., a leading Chinese artificial intelligence chipmaker, soared as much as 502% in its Shanghai debut after raising 8 billion yuan ($1.13 billion) in an IPO. Nvidia Corp. would be barred from shipping advanced artificial intelligence chips to China under bipartisan legislation unveiled Thursday in a bid to codify existing US restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors to the Chinese market. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 3:17 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro was little changed at $1.1643 The British pound was little changed at $1.3331 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 155.28 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 2.7% to $89,661.75 Ether fell 2.6% to $3,042.55 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.14% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.80% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.48% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $60.08 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Levin Stamm, Neil Campling and Sidhartha Shukla.
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