A strong rally erupted on Friday on Wall Street shortly after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a notably dovish message during his highly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole.
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Powell said the Fed is prepared to adjust its policy stance—a clear nod to potential interest rate cuts—in response to the sharp cooling in the labor market.
He also adopted a more tolerant tone on inflation risks stemming from trade tariffs, saying the Fed’s base case assumes these would result in one-off price increases, not a sustained inflation surge.
It was party time for markets. Every sector in the S&P 500 closed in the green, with consumer discretionary, real estate, industrials and materials each rising more than 2%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 2%, breaking to new all-time highs above 45,680. The S&P 500 gained 1.4%, closing at 6,460 and flirting with record territory near 4,680, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%, snapping a three-day losing streak.
But the true stars of the day were small caps. The Russell 2000 Index soared nearly 4%, logging its best session since April 9 and climbing back to levels last seen in December 2024.
Regional banks, tracked by the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE)—the largest sector within the index—jumped nearly 5%. In currencies, the U.S. dollar fell 0.9%, while short-dated Treasury yields collapsed, with the 2-year note dropping 10 basis points to 3.70%.
Commodities rallied as well: gold climbed 1%, and silver surged 2.2%. But the most explosive gains came from crypto markets.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) soared 3.5% to $116,000, while Solana (CRYTPO: SOL), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) rallied 9%, 10%, and 12%, respectively—turning a bullish day into a crypto-fueled frenzy.
Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
Major Indices | Price | 1-day % |
Russell 2000 | 2,361.16 | 3.8% |
Dow Jones | 45,699.02 | 2.0% |
S&P 500 | 6,464.81 | 1.55% |
Nasdaq 100 | 23,461.08 | 1.4% |
Updated by 12:45 p.m. ET
According to Benzinga Pro data:
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 1.5% at $553.99.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rallied 2.1% to $457.36.
The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 1.5% to $571.47.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rocketed 4% to $234.85.
The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) outperformed, up 0.3%; the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) lagged, up 0.1%.
Stocks On The Move Friday
Friday’s best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 index:
Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH) 9.18%
Builders FirstSource Inc. (NYSE:BLDR) 7.97%
Mohawk Industries Inc. (NYSE:MHK) 7.39%
Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) 6.52%
Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) 6.31%
Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) 6.21%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) 6.19%
ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:ON) 6.14%
Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) 6.07%
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) 6.06%
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This article Dow Hits Record Highs, Small Caps Soar On Powell’s Shift: What’s Moving Markets Friday? originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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