Stocks finished higher today with the Standard and Poor’s five hundred, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite all advancing, led by large technology and financial shares, as listeners positioned ahead of tomorrow’s inflation report and ongoing tariff headlines. According to Charles Schwab, Friday’s closes had the Standard and Poor’s five hundred at six thousand three hundred eighty nine point four five up zero point seven eight percent, the Dow at forty four thousand one hundred seventy five point six one up zero point four seven percent, and the Nasdaq at twenty one thousand four hundred fifty point zero two up zero point nine eight percent, and today’s trade extended that upbeat tone into the close amid lighter summer volumes.

According to Zacks and Nasdaq market news, optimism about a potential interest rate cut in September and easing concerns around the latest tariff steps continued to underpin sentiment, with nine of eleven Standard and Poor’s sectors recently in the green, led by information technology, financials, and health care, while energy and utilities lagged. Schwab notes the ten year United States Treasury yield hovered near four point two seven percent, suggesting rates are not flashing new stress as equities grind higher, and crude oil in United States dollars held in the mid sixty dollar area.

Most actively traded names remained the mega caps in technology and communications services, while chipmakers saw brisk flow tied to tariff and artificial intelligence demand narratives, as tracked by Schwab’s market update and broad tape action. Biggest percentage movers skewed toward smaller cap technology and biotech on earnings and guidance revisions, while some commodity linked shares slipped with softer oil. Fortune reports that futures were flat to slightly higher pre market, with investors focused on tomorrow’s July Consumer Price Index, which several banks say could be the key summer catalyst for rates and risk assets. Yardeni QuickTakes and Oppenheimer highlight that Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index and Thursday’s Producer Price Index loom large, with consensus looking for a modest core Consumer Price Index increase that would still allow a September policy rate cut, while retail sales and industrial production later in the week could sway sector leadership.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, I am watching the Consumer Price Index at eight thirty a m eastern time, any tariff announcements or extensions tied to China, and company specific earnings from remaining season stragglers in technology and industrials, with Oppenheimer flagging only a handful of large constituents left this week. Potential catalysts include a softer than expected inflation print reinforcing a September Federal Reserve cut, a tariff de escalation, or, conversely, a hotter inflation surprise that dents rate cut odds and pressures the highest valuation growth stocks.

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