Stocks rose on Friday, logging a second straight day of increases but still posting weekly declines after steep drops earlier this week.
The Dow gained more than 350 points, or 1%, after the index posted its best single-session gain since March on Thursday. The Nasdaq outperformed with a rally of more than 2%, led by a rebound in technology stocks. The S&P 500 gained 1.5%.
Shares of Disney (DIS) slid after the company posted quarterly revenue that missed estimates, with subscribers to Disney+ falling short of Wall Street’s expectations and the firm’s theme parks division losing money for a fourth straight quarter. Coinbase (COIN) shares declined even after the crypto exchange boosted its full-year outlook, and as cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum recovered losses from earlier this week. Home rental company Airbnb (ABNB) topped first-quarter sales estimates but posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, though shares ended the session higher.
Investors this week have been nervously eyeing signs of inflation in the economic recovery coming out of the pandemic. Both consumer and producer prices surged in April over last year, reflecting both an inevitable bounce off last year’s virus-depressed levels as well as upward price pressures as demand across supply chains outstripped supply. Consumer prices surged by a faster than expected 4.2% year-over-year last month, government data showed earlier this week. And producer prices also came in higher than expected, with core producer prices rising 4.1% last month versus the 3.8% increase expected.
