Wall Street Gains Ground As Consumer Sentiment Improves; Gold Hits Record Highs, Boosting Mining Stocks: What's Driving Markets Friday?

Wall Street edged slightly higher on Friday, with major equity indices showing modest gains at midday in New York.

Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are on track to record their best week since October 2023, driven by stronger-than-expected economic data that eased earlier concerns of a recession. If they close in the green, they will secure the seventh straight positive session.

On Friday, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index for August exceeded expectations, adding to a series of positive data, including lower-than-anticipated jobless claims and strong retail sales growth reported the day before.

Gold was the standout performer, climbing 1.5% to reach a record high of $2,500 per ounce, as traders positioned themselves in anticipation of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.

This surge in gold prices boosted gold mining stocks, with the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) advancing over 2%.

Oil prices, however, dipped 1.6% amid reduced geopolitical tensions as Gaza ceasefire negotiations resumed in Doha, Qatar. In a joint statement, the United States, Qatar, and Egypt announced that Washington had presented a new proposal that has the potential to rapidly close gaps and lead to a swift agreement.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rose 1.6%, reaching $58,368.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Russell 2000	2,142.44	0.2%
S&P 500	5,552.80	0.1%
Dow Jones	40,619.51	0.1%
Nasdaq 100	19,507.26	0.1%

Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET

According to Benzinga Pro data:

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.1% higher to $553.81.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) also rose 0.1% to $406.32.
The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) edged 0.2% up to $475.31.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) ticked 0.2% higher to $212.42.
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC), The Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF), and The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) outperformed, up by 0.5%. The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) lagged, down by 0.5%.

Friday’s Stock Movers

H&R Block Inc. (NYSE:HRB) rallied 15% following stronger-than-expected results last quarter.
Other stocks moving on earnings were Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR), down 5%, Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), down 1.5%, Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR), up 8%, Flower Foods Inc. (NYSE:FLO), down 0.3%, and Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB), up 4.9%.
Repligen Corp. (NASDAQ:RGEN) dropped 13% after making an acquisition offer to Maravai LifeSciences Holdings (NASDAQ:MRVI), a company specializing in vaccine capping reagents with a market value of $2.2 billion. Following the offer, Maravai’s shares surged by 23%.