US stocks up on Tesla rally on GM Charger deal

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose in sluggish trading on Friday, while Tesla’s alliance with General Motors boosted shares of the electric-car maker.

The S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent in afternoon trading, rising above 4,322 and a level reached in August 2022. The gains pushed the blue-chip stock index deeper into bull market territory as it soared more than 20 percent from its most recent low in October.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 percent, buoyed by a 4.3 percent jump in Tesla shares.

Shares of the carmaker rose for an 11th consecutive day after it allowed General Motors customers to use its electric-vehicle charging system, similar to an agreement it struck with Ford last month.

On a weekly basis, the S&P 500 was up 0.5 percent on track for its fourth straight winning streak, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2 percent, eyeing a seventh consecutive week of gains.

In Europe, equities ended the day lower, with the region-wide Stoxx 600 falling 0.1 percent and Germany’s DAX 0.3 percent.

London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent, pulled down after a profit warning from Croda. Shares of the chemicals company plunged 12.4 per cent, the most since last seen in early 2020, after it warned that customers were reducing their inventories. The Stoxx 600 Chemicals index declined 2 percent.

European gas futures rose 21.5 percent to €31.75, hitting a volatile week high and ahead of a heatwave expected in parts of Europe over the weekend.

Meanwhile, investors prepared for Federal Reserve policymakers to set interest rates next week, betting they would refrain from raising rates this month. That view gathered steam after US unemployment data on Thursday pointed to a cooling labor market.

“Markets pounced on weekly US jobs data that showed a rise in unemployment, giving the Fed more reason to consider a pause in rate hikes,” said Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdowne. “And the big philanthropists? Big Tech of course.

In a sign of calm spreading across the markets, the VIX Volatility Index hit 13, its lowest level since the start of panic over the coronavirus pandemic three years ago. The benchmark is a measure of expected volatility in the S&P over the coming month.

Yet the yield on the two-year US Treasury note, which is sensitive to rate expectations, rose 0.08 percentage points to 4.6 percent. The yield on the 10-year note rose 0.03 percentage points to 3.74 per cent. Bond yields rise as prices fall.

Investors are also awaiting a decision from European Central Bank policymakers next week, betting that they will raise the bank’s deposit rate by 0.25 percentage points, above the current level of 3.25 percent.

“Despite some recent relief in the inflation print, (ECB President Christine Lagarde) will signal that her job on inflation is far from done,” said Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies.

In Turkey, the lira declined 1 percent to 23.34 against the dollar after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed former US banker Hafez Gay Erkan to head the country’s central bank.

This excerpt has been amended to reflect that the S&P 500 surpassed the range previously hit in August.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose in sluggish trading on Friday, while Tesla’s alliance with General Motors boosted shares of the electric-car maker.

The S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent in afternoon trading, rising above 4,322 and a level reached in August 2022. The gains pushed the blue-chip stock index deeper into bull market territory as it soared more than 20 percent from its most recent low in October.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 percent, buoyed by a 4.3 percent jump in Tesla shares.

Shares of the carmaker rose for an 11th consecutive day after it allowed General Motors customers to use its electric-vehicle charging system, similar to an agreement it struck with Ford last month.

On a weekly basis, the S&P 500 was up 0.5 percent on track for its fourth straight winning streak, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2 percent, eyeing a seventh consecutive week of gains.

In Europe, equities ended the day lower, with the region-wide Stoxx 600 falling 0.1 percent and Germany’s DAX 0.3 percent.

London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent, pulled down after a profit warning from Croda. Shares of the chemicals company plunged 12.4 per cent, the most since last seen in early 2020, after it warned that customers were reducing their inventories. The Stoxx 600 Chemicals index declined 2 percent.

European gas futures rose 21.5 percent to €31.75, hitting a volatile week high and ahead of a heatwave expected in parts of Europe over the weekend.

Meanwhile, investors prepared for Federal Reserve policymakers to set interest rates next week, betting they would refrain from raising rates this month. That view gathered steam after US unemployment data on Thursday pointed to a cooling labor market.

“Markets pounced on weekly US jobs data that showed a rise in unemployment, giving the Fed more reason to consider a pause in rate hikes,” said Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdowne. “And the big philanthropists? Big Tech of course.

In a sign of calm spreading across the markets, the VIX Volatility Index hit 13, its lowest level since the start of panic over the coronavirus pandemic three years ago. The benchmark is a measure of expected volatility in the S&P over the coming month.

Yet the yield on the two-year US Treasury note, which is sensitive to rate expectations, rose 0.08 percentage points to 4.6 percent. The yield on the 10-year note rose 0.03 percentage points to 3.74 per cent. Bond yields rise as prices fall.

Investors are also awaiting a decision from European Central Bank policymakers next week, betting that they will raise the bank’s deposit rate by 0.25 percentage points, above the current level of 3.25 percent.

“Despite some recent relief in the inflation print, (ECB President Christine Lagarde) will signal that her job on inflation is far from done,” said Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies.

In Turkey, the lira declined 1 percent to 23.34 against the dollar after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed former US banker Hafez Gay Erkan to head the country’s central bank.

This excerpt has been amended to reflect that the S&P 500 surpassed the range previously hit in August.