Wall Street Marks New Highs As Bank Stocks Rally, Tesla Tumbles As Robotaxi Disappoints: What’s Driving Markets Friday?

Friday’s trading session saw another robust rally on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both reaching new record highs, fueled by better-than-expected third-quarter earnings from major U.S. banks.

The S&P 500 surged past 5,800 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 42,800.

Leading the charge were top U.S. financial institutions, which kicked off the earnings season with strong results. JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Wells Fargo & Co. WFC, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. BK, and BlackRock Inc. BLK all beat analysts’ earnings expectations. The upbeat results from these banking giants triggered a rally in financial stocks, pushing the sector to an all-time high.

Furthermore, gains spilled over to regional banks and the broader small-cap universe, as the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE and the Russell 2000 rallied 2.7% and 1.7%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. TSLA plunged by 8%, on track for its worst session in more than a month, with analysts expecting further declines after the lack of clear business plans for robotaxis and no updates on the lower-cost production vehicle, following the highly anticipated Robotaxi Day on Thursday.

On the macroeconomic front, inflation remains in focus. Following Thursday’s hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, Friday’s Producer Price Index (PPI) data also came in above forecasts, indicating a setback in the disinflationary narrative.

Despite the inflation uptick, market expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in November remained largely unchanged. According to CME’s FedWatch tool, there is still an 85% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut next month.

In the commodities space, oil prices steadied after surging 3.5% on Thursday, amid a lack of relevant news from the Middle East front. Gold advanced 1.2%, while silver gained 1.4%.

Bitcoin BTC/USD also posted notable gains, rising over 3% in response to the strong earnings report from BlackRock, which showed higher-than-expected fund inflows. Investors appear optimistic about continued institutional interest in cryptocurrencies.

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.4% to $578.52.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.6% to $427.37.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ held steady at $492.55.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 1.6% to $220.38.
• The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF outperformed, up 1.9%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY lagged, down 0.4%.

• Uber Technologies Inc. UBER rose 9.1% in reaction to the dismal Robotaxi event.
• Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 4.8% in reaction to upbeat quarterly earnings.
• Other banks reacting to earnings reports were Wells Fargo & Co., up 6.1%, BlackRock Inc., up 2.4%, and Bank of New York Mellon, down 1.8%.
• Fastenal Company FAST rallied 9.1% after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings.
• Shares of Affirm Holdings Inc. AFRM rallied over 10% after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock from Equal Weight to Overweight.

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