Stocks rise as market comeback lifts S&P 500 to best week of 2024

Here are the stocks moving at midday:

• Rocket Lab — Shares of the aerospace company soared more than 16% to a new 52-week high. Packing and shipping two spacecraft to Mars Flying to Cape Canaveral, Florida for launch. The two spacecraft were designed, built, integrated and tested by the UC Berkeley Space Science Laboratory and NASA Rocketry Laboratory.
• BAVARIA, Nordic — Shares of the Danish biotech surged more than 16% after it submitted data to the European Union's drug regulator on expanding use of its MPOX vaccine among adolescents. Chief Executive Paul Chaplin told CNBC that expanding approval to those ages 12 to 17 is critical to combating outbreaks of new strains of the virus.
• H&R Block – Shares of H&R Block rose more than 16% after the tax services provider's fiscal fourth-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations, boosted its dividend and authorized $1.5 billion in buybacks. H&R Block also released its fiscal 2025 forecast, reflecting another year of revenue growth.

Read the full list here.

— Sean Conlon

JPMorgan sees the recent shocking market crash as an example of what could happen in the future.

“Many market participants view the recent burst of various crowded trades as a fluke or a blip in the cash, but we view this as more of a dress rehearsal for what's to come,” JPMorgan strategists said in a note.

In early August, the Japanese stock market benchmark Nikkei 225 Index plummeted 12.4% in a single day, the worst day since “Black Monday” in 1987, triggering a domino effect around the world. The sell-off was driven by Bank of Japan slightly raises interest ratesraising interest rates to their highest level in 15 years and canceling the yen “carry trade.”

The Wall Street firm believes that arbitrage trades may become a problem again, but they should not trigger another market crash as investors suffer losses. However, JPMorgan said concerns about an economic slowdown may resurface.

“Going forward, until the Sharpe ratio of the carry trade turns higher, we do not believe this will be the catalyst for the next major correction,” the firm said. “Instead, we view re-emerging growth risks as a possible trigger.”

— Yun Li

NVIDIA The stock has soared 18% this week after four weeks of declines.

The weekly move puts the chipmaker on track for its best week since May 2023, when shares soared 24.6%. Shares have risen 149% this year.

Nvidia's rise follows a sharp sell-off in technology stocks last week after a weak July jobs report and the unwinding of the Japanese yen “carry trade” spooked investors. Shares have fallen 2.3% over the past month.

shares NVIDIA A 0.3% gain on Friday morning pushed the chip leader's stock further above its 50-day moving average of about $120 a share.

Frank Gretz, a technical analyst at Wellington Shields, noted in a note to clients that the stock has now rebounded to the heavily traded levels seen earlier in the summer and could create some areas of resistance in addition to the moving averages.

“It can be said that this is a critical moment. A break above the 50-day moving average is certainly positive,” the report said.

— Jesse Pond

gold futures It rose 1.4% to $2,526.60 on Friday and hit an all-time intraday high of $2,537.50.

Gold futures are up about 2.2% so far this week, giving the commodity its third consecutive weekly gain.

this VanEck Gold Miners ETF It also rose 2% on Friday and is up nearly 6% for the week.

— Kim Ha Kyung

Latest data shows consumer confidence rose more than expected in August, inflation expectations unchanged University of Michigan survey.

The sentiment index rose to 67.8 from 66.4 in July, better than the Dow Jones forecast of 66.6. However, the current conditions index fell to 60.9, the lowest level since December 2022, although the expectations index climbed to 72.1.

In terms of inflation, the one-year and five-year outlooks were stable at 2.9% and 3.0% respectively.

— Jeff Cox

Stocks were slightly lower on Friday, but are expected to end the week higher amid a flurry of positive economic data in recent days.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq fell 0.39%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61 points, or 0.33%.

— Brian Evans

Wall Street's gains in recent days have helped stocks end the week on a strong note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average entered Friday trading up more than 2% for the week. The S&P 500 rose about 3%, while the Nasdaq gained 5%.

— Brian Evans

Housing starts and building permits It hit a four-year low in July as rising interest rates continued to squeeze the industry.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday that construction starts totaled 1.238 million units, down 6.8% from June and down 16% from the same period last year. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 1.34 million. Single-family housing starts totaled 851,000 units, down 14.1% from June.

The leading indicator of licenses was better, with a total of 1.396 million, a decrease of 4% from the previous quarter and a decrease of 7% from the same period last year. The forecast is 1.42 million. Single-family residential authorizations were 938,000 units, down 0.1% quarter-to-quarter.

Both the total number of construction starts and the total number of permits were at their lowest levels since June 2020.

— Jeff Cox

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Applied Materials — Shares of the semiconductor equipment company fell 1.8% despite better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Applied Materials earned $2.12 a share, excluding items, on revenue of $6.78 billion in the period, while analysts polled by LSEG forecast earnings of $2.02 a share on revenue of $66.7 billion dollars.
• JD.com – Shares of JD.com rose 3% after the Chinese e-commerce group reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue, driven by price cuts to attract conscious consumers. JD.com’s second-quarter profit excluding projects increased 73.7% to 9.36 yuan per share, while analysts surveyed by the London Stock Exchange Group expected 6.07 yuan per share.
• Estee Lauder — Shares of the beauty company fell nearly 2% after Bank of America downgraded the stock, citing headwinds in China. Weak demand in the United States also weighed on shares, the company added.

For a complete list, read here.

— Pia Singh

U.S. stock futures edged lower before the open on Friday as investors looked to extend this week's gains following encouraging economic data.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 26 points, or 0.06%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were hovering near flatline.

— Brian Evans

European stocks opened higher on Friday, with weekly gains so far exceeding 2%.

Germany's DAX index rose 0.28%, France's CAC 40 index rose 0.15%, but Britain's FTSE 100 index fell 0.15%.

—Jenny Reed

With only Friday's trading session left, the three major stock indexes are set to move sharply higher this week.

this S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Index This week's gains were more than 3% and 5% respectively. Both are on pace for their best weekly performances since November. This would also end a four-week losing streak for both sides.

this Dow Chemical It rose more than 2%, marking its best week since December.

— Alex Harling

Here are some stocks moving in extended trading:

• H&R Block — Tax Services shares rose more than 8% after announcing a 17% dividend increase and $1.5 billion in buybacks.
• Autodesk — Design technology supplier down nearly 3% Bloomberg reports Despite saying it would stop, senior executives continued to use sales tactics. The company also ignored the risks associated with the practice, according to Bloomberg.

See the full list here.

— Alex Harling

Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were near flat Thursday night shortly after 6 p.m. ET. Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 0.1%.

— Alex Harling