Major U.S. equities indexes rose Friday afternoon after key inflation data came in lower than expected, boosting hopes the Federal Reserve will decide to cut interest rates next week. The S&P 500 and Dow edged up about 0.1% to near their all-time highs. The Nasdaq also ticked 0.1% higher.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500, with shares up about 14% after the cosmetics and fragrance retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its outlook.
Shares of Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) also took off, jumping 11% after the lingerie retailer reported strong earnings and hiked its guidance, citing lower promotional costs and higher prices.
Salesforce (CRM) climbed over 5%, extending its recent gains after the software giant posted better-than-expected earnings with a boost from growing sales of its Agentforce AI offerings and Data 360 products.
Paramount Skydance (PSKY) shares slumped nearly 8% after it lost a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) film and streaming properties to Netflix (NFLX). Shares of Netflix were 3% lower, while Warner Bros. Discovery shares gained 2%.
W.R. Berkley (WRB) shares tumbled 7% after the insurer announced that Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance took a 12.5% stake in the firm.
Oil and gold futures advanced. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.13%. The U.S. dollar rose versus the yen, but lost ground to the euro and pound. Most major cryptocurrencies lost ground.
