Stocks Are on a Record Hunt! Investors Are Pleased

Exciting Developments for Investors

U.S. stocks caught investors' attention on Friday as they advanced towards fresh records with a significant inflation report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (%DJI) rose by more than 500 points, showing an increase of 1.1%. The S&P 500 (%GSPC) surpassed 6,800 with a 1% gain, while the Nasdaq Composite Index (%IXIC) soared by 1.3%.

The most notable aspect on Friday was the inflation data for September. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, released over a week late due to the ongoing government shutdown, came in cooler than the market had expected with a 3% annual increase. Although this figure is the highest level since May, it fell short of predictions of 3.1%. On a monthly basis, prices showed a 0.3% increase, indicating a slight decline from the August figures.

This data, which investors were carefully waiting for, was the first major economic commentary on the state of the economy following the shutdown. The CPI data did not shake investors' confidence in a potential interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. 99% of investors expect a 0.25% rate cut next week, while 96% believe another cut will occur in December.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he canceled trade talks with Canada. Trump indicated that he made this decision due to an advertisement opposing his tariffs.

On the corporate front, shares of Intel (%INTC) saw significant gains diminish after the company's third-quarter earnings surpassed Wall Street estimates. Intel's Investor Relations Manager John Pitzer stated that they are preparing for a larger role in the artificial intelligence sector.

Target (%TGT) shares showed little change despite the company announcing layoffs, with a rise of more than 1% contrary to the overall market gains.

Crypto stocks rose on Friday afternoon as investors' confidence in a rate cut from the Federal Reserve increased following lower-than-expected inflation data. Shares of Robinhood (%HOOD) increased by 3.3%, Circle (%CRCL) by 5.1%, MARA (%MARA) by 2.6%, and Riot Platforms (%RIOT) by 5.3%.

On the other hand, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (%COIN) rose by 7% after receiving an "Overweight" rating from JPMorgan (%JPM), gaining attention in the context of developing token and stablecoin opportunities.

Shares of Alphabet (%GOOGL, %GOOG) rose by 3% following a private agreement between Google and Anthropic. Google pledged to supply up to 1 million specialized chips to the AI developer. Analyst Gil Luria emphasized that this deal could be worth a total of $900 billion.

Shares of Ford (%F) increased by 9% on Friday morning. The company’s third-quarter earnings exceeded Wall Street estimates, and news emerged that its main supplier, Novelis, would open its facilities earlier than expected.

In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note (%TNX) remained below 4% on Friday morning, while the yield on the 30-year note (%TYX) rose to 4.6%. Expectations for interest rate cuts remained unchanged following the inflation data.