U.S. stocks closed higher Friday, clawing back a portion of the week's steep losses as investors rotated into healthcare and financial names while bond yields steadied following Thursday's rate-driven selloff. Healthcare led the Dow's advance, with gains in Merck and Johnson & Johnson providing the bulk of the lift, while crypto-linked financial stocks surged as bitcoin extended its weekly rally. Despite the day's gains, the S&P 500 still finished the week roughly 1.4% lower, and technology remained the market's soft spot, with the sector down more than 3% over the past five sessions as investors continued to digest elevated valuations against a backdrop of rising long-term borrowing costs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.98% The S&P 500 Index rose 0.43% The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.43%
Stock & Sector Performance
Healthcare and financials were the session's standout sectors. On the Dow, gains in Merck and Johnson & Johnson drove the index's advance, while the broader financials sector got an added boost from crypto-related names: Robinhood jumped almost 14% and Coinbase added 8% as bitcoin posted a weekly advance of 22%. Materials also outperformed, rising 2% on the day. On the weaker side, AppLovin lost 2.3% after Piper Sandler cut its price target on the digital-advertising company to $325 from $385 while maintaining a neutral rating, citing concerns about the sustainability of growth following its second-quarter results. Information technology remained under broader pressure for the week, with Amkor Technology and Credo Technology among the biggest five-day laggards, down nearly 15% and 11%, respectively, and Meta Platforms off almost 7% over the same stretch.
Magnificent Seven performance was mixed. Tesla was the standout gainer, rallying roughly 4% on a Europe Semi truck launch event and Nevada's approval for the company to operate up to 5,000 robotaxis in Clark County, extending a run that put shares on pace for their best week since May. Nvidia traded relatively little changed as investors positioned ahead of the company's August 26 earnings report. Reliable closing figures for Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta were not available in today's reporting at publication time, though the Nasdaq 100 snapped a five-day losing streak, suggesting the broader mega-cap complex found some stabilization after a rough week.
Major Company Story of the Day
The dominant single-stock storyline was a bullish contrarian call on Walmart following Thursday's rout. JPMorgan said the retailer's worst single-day decline in four years presented a buying opportunity, maintaining an overweight rating even as it trimmed its price target to $125 from $137 — still implying roughly 21% upside from Thursday's close. Analyst Christopher Horvers wrote in a note to clients that "we are buyers – we view wash out as done as bears got their price and trends should improve while alternate profit pools accelerated," pushing back on the bearish case built on relative valuation against dollar stores and conventional supermarkets.
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