Ritika Janiya
It was a stellar week for U.S stocks, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow Jones in incredible form. The S&P 500 was in the midst of its best week since November 2023, with almost a 4% rise. The semiconductor company Nvidia pulled off a massive rebound of 18%, and the prices of gold soared to their lifetime high. Economic data showed strong retail sales and lower jobless claims, which calmed recession fears.
This was a good week for the U.S. stock market, as major indexes saw big gains. Many key benchmarks, including the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones, turned in good performances to close out the week. Let’s break down what happened and why.
US stocks were mostly steady on Friday, with the broad market index S&P 500 slipping just a tiny bit by 0.01%. The Nasdaq was up by just 0.02%, while the Dow Jones, tracking 30 big companies, remained flat. With those small daily changes, this became an overall fantastic week.
“S&P 500’s Best Week in Months!” The S&P 500 advanced nearly 4% this week, notching its best performance since November 2023. The Nasdaq jumped 5%, and the Dow gained about 3%. This week’s performance was strong, rebounding from a rough start to August and a big win for investors.
Retail sales data, a measure of how much people are spending, beat expectations. That was upbeat because people were buying more goods—another sign of an economy’s strength. Claims for state unemployment benefits also declined. The news takes a bit off the edge from growing concerns earlier in the month that a recession was just around the corner.
Inflation was also in focus, as prices move up. New data showed inflation might not be that bad as some feared. This is important because the economy might mean it’s heading toward a “soft landing” where growth slows but doesn’t crash.
This recent data has been just right, according to UBS, a big money firm—not too hot and not too cold. All in all, this is balanced information that would help reduce fear of recession or inflation problems hurting the economy.
Nvidia’s Big Comeback: One of the week’s most gigantic winners was Nvidia, known for its making computer chips. Its stock price rose 18% this week. That comes off a rough month in which Nvidia’s shares slid following a weak jobs report and some investor jitters. Even with that slide, Nvidia’s stock has surged 149 percent in 2019—a huge comeback.
“Gold’s Shiny New Record!” Gold prices were in the headlines, too. The price of gold futures—a contract to buy gold at a later date—increased by 1.4% on Friday to $2,526.6 per ounce. During the day, the price of gold hit an all-time high of $2,537.5. That rise in gold prices indicates that investors are seeking a safe haven.
Sentiment and Economy Data: Optimism about the economy improved, according to a survey about consumer sentiment. Confidence in the economy rose to 67.8 from 66.4 in July, as measured by an index showing how optimistic people are in the economy. These results are better than those predicted by economists, though people’s perception of their present situation is less encouraging, as reflected in the current conditions index, which dropped to 60.9.
One-year and five-year-ahead inflation expectations—how much people believe prices will rise in the future—remained at 2.9% and 3.0%, respectively, unchanged news that says people are not expecting big jumps in prices.
Stocks Opened Lower but Stayed Strong: Shares opened a little lower on Friday, but general sentiment was pretty upbeat from the earlier economic tidbits. The S&P 500 lost 0.2%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.39%. The Dow Jones slid 61 points, or 0.33%. Despite the small slide, it has turned out to be a good week overall after those positive economic reports from Thursday.
Wall Street Rally: The Wall Street rally kept the stocks strong through the week’s end. The Dow Jones gained more than 2 percent this week, while the S&P 500 climbed about 3 percent and the Nasdaq gained 5 percent. Good news for investors: these show a good recovery from earlier in the month.
With the performance of the stock market this week, things now are in complete turnaround from the poor start to August. All the good economic news and strong performances by key companies, such as Nvidia and gold, really do point to things looking up again for the markets.
