S&P 500 Nears All-Time High After Benign PCE Data: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — US stocks extended its bull run after a dated reading of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. Treasuries are on track for their worst week since June.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% after the data, within a whisker of October’s all-time high. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.9%. The Russell 2000 gauge of smaller companies edged higher after closing at a record on Thursday. Treasuries extended losses with the yield on the 10-year hovering around 4.11%.

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.

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“The goods inflation acceleration is pretty clearly a function of tariffs, but since Fed officials are willing to look through this (as most on the Fed look at tariff-driven price increases as a one-time phenomenon) and given that services prices eased, Sept PCE is modestly net positive/dovish,” wrote Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli.

A US interest rate cut next week is largely priced in with bets pointing to further easing into 2026.

“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.

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. wobbled 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. Bitcoin fell below $91,000 on Friday.

WTI crude rose above $60 a barrel. Gold headed for back-to-back gains.

Corporate News

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 0.5% as of 10:23 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% The MSCI World Index rose 0.4% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro was little changed at $1.1655 The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3354 The Japanese yen was little changed at 155.18 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 1.2% to $91,037.48 Ether rose 0.4% to $3,136.6 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.11% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.79% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.45% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1% to $60.24 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.9% to $4,247.37 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Levin Stamm, Neil Campling and Sidhartha Shukla.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.