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Semiconductor stocks extended their slide on Friday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 0.88%, its eighth consecutive daily decline, after South Korea's Kospi dropped more than 7% overnight. Among the larger decliners, Arm Holdings fell about 6.5%, Micron roughly 4.8% and Broadcom about 4.4%. CoreWeave swung sharply, falling more than 9% early before closing up almost 6%. The weakness in chips and AI-linked names weighed on the technology sector, which was among the da

U.S. retail sales rose 0.8% in September from the prior month, indicating that shoppers continued to spend despite elevated inflation and high borrowing costs. The reading is closely watched by investors in retailers and consumer staples, which outperformed on Friday. Walmart and Coca-Cola were among the Dow's top gainers. Combined with a hotter producer price report, the data leaves the Federal Reserve balancing resilient demand against persistent price pressures.

Smaller companies beat large caps on Friday. The Russell 2000 rose 1.4%, the S&P SmallCap 600 gained 1.33% and the S&P MidCap 400 advanced 1.03%. Smaller companies tend to be more sensitive to borrowing costs, so the drop in Treasury yields helped sentiment. The 10-year yield fell to about 5.09% and the 30-year stood near 5.43%. Brent crude eased 1.4% to about $104.54 a barrel, and the dollar index slipped to about 102. Individual small-cap moves were large in both directions

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 556 points, or 1.08%, to close at 52,177.69, its highest level in a month. The S&P 500 rose 0.33% to 7,744.06 and the Nasdaq added 0.08%. Defensive and value names led. Home Depot gained 3.4%, Chevron 3.1%, McDonald's 2.6%, Coca-Cola 2.3% and Walmart 2.2%. Health care was the best-performing sector, followed by consumer staples and materials. Nvidia, Amazon and Caterpillar were among the Dow's laggards. The VIX volatility index slipped

Wholesale inflation ran hotter than expected in September. The producer price index rose 6.3% from a year earlier, above the 5.5% economists had forecast, while core producer prices climbed 5.0%. The report adds to a run of firm inflation readings that has kept investors focused on how the Federal Reserve will respond. Higher input costs can squeeze margins for consumer-facing and transport companies if they cannot pass them on to customers. Markets nonetheless closed higher

Information technology was the worst-performing S&P 500 sector Wednesday, falling about 3%. Dell dropped roughly 8% after Barclays cut it to Equal Weight, citing valuation and slower enterprise AI hardware spending. CoreWeave also fell sharply amid concern over its heavy AI infrastructure debt. The selloff extends a rough stretch for the group: one market summary showed tech down about 5% and semiconductors about 9% over seven days, while energy and oil and gas stocks gained

September consumer prices rose 0.6% from the prior month and 3.7% from a year earlier, above the 3.6% economists had expected. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% on the month and 2.6% annually, both hotter than forecast. Analysts pointed to shelter, airfares and used cars as drivers, alongside energy costs tied to the conflict with Iran. Treasury yields jumped on concern the Federal Reserve could raise rates again this month. The 10-year yield rose more than

Federal regulators fined Bank of America more than $1.2 billion over failures in its anti-money-laundering and illicit-finance safeguards. The company booked the settlement in its third-quarter results, cutting reported net income to $6.9 billion, or $0.91 per share. Excluding the charge, adjusted net income was $8.1 billion, or $1.08 per share. Revenue was $30.0 billion, up 3% from a year earlier, with net interest income up 8% to $16.4 billion. Global Markets sales and trad