A strong rally erupted on Friday on Wall Street shortly after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a notably dovish message during his highly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole.
Powell said the Fed is prepared to adjust its policy stance—a clear nod to potential interest rate cuts—in response to the sharp cooling in the labor market.
He also adopted a more tolerant tone on inflation risks stemming from trade tariffs, saying the Fed’s base case assumes these would result in one-off price increases, not a sustained inflation surge.
It was party time for markets. Every sector in the S&P 500 closed in the green, with consumer discretionary, real estate, industrials and materials each rising more than 2%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 2%, breaking to new all-time highs above 45,680. The S&P 500 gained 1.4%, closing at 6,460 and flirting with record territory near 4,680, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%, snapping a three-day losing streak.
But the true stars of the day were small caps. The Russell 2000 Index soared nearly 4%, logging its best session since April 9 and climbing back to levels last seen in December 2024.
Regional banks, tracked by the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE)—the largest sector within the index—jumped nearly 5%. In currencies, the U.S. dollar fell 0.9%, while short-dated Treasury yields collapsed, with the 2-year note dropping 10 basis points to 3.70%.
Commodities rallied as well: gold climbed 1%, and silver surged 2.2%. But the most explosive gains came from crypto markets.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) soared 3.5% to $116,000, while Solana (CRYTPO: SOL), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) rallied 9%, 10%, and 12%, respectively—turning a bullish day into a crypto-fueled frenzy.
|
Major Indices |
Price |
1-day % |
|
Russell 2000 |
2,361.16 |
3.8% |
|
Dow Jones |
45,699.02 |
2.0% |
|
S&P 500 |
6,464.81 |
1.55% |
|
Nasdaq 100 |
23,461.08 |
1.4% |
Updated by 12:45 p.m. ET
According to Benzinga Pro data:
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The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 1.5% at $553.99.
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The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rallied 2.1% to $457.36.
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The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 1.5% to $571.47.
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The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rocketed 4% to $234.85.
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The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) outperformed, up 0.3%; the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) lagged, up 0.1%.
Friday’s best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 index:
