Stocks close higher as the Dow gains 479 points; the 2-year yield falls while the 10-year holds at 5.17%
The S&P 500 rose 0.51% and Microsoft hit its highest close of the year. In bonds, rates tied to the Fed fell more than long rates, so the yield curve kept steepening.
Stocks rose Friday to finish a week dominated by the bond market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 478.64 points to 51,828.62, the S&P 500 added 39.28 points to 7,743.41 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 129.35 points to 27,068.72, according to Yahoo Finance closing data. CNBC reported the same figures.
| Index | Close | Friday | Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,743.41 | +0.51% | +1.21% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 27,068.72 | +0.48% | +2.06% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 51,828.62 | +0.93% | +0.28% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,837.55 | +0.07% | -0.80% |
The yield story was about the short end, not the long end
On Friday the headline was the 10-year yield, which CNBC said touched 5.230% during the day, its highest since June 2007. The Treasury's official closing curve shows something different. The 10-year closed at 5.17%, down 1 basis point, while the 2-year fell 6 basis points to 4.81% (Treasury data). The 30-year rose 2 points to 5.49%.
The 2-year tracks Fed expectations most closely, and traders pulled back a little on hike bets. CNBC cited CME FedWatch odds of about 64% for an October increase. Across the week, the 10-year rose 16 basis points, from 5.01% to 5.17%, but the 2-year rose only 5. The gap between them grew from 25 basis points last Friday to 36. That matters for borrowers. Lines of credit priced off short-term rates saw some relief on Friday. Mortgages and commercial property loans priced off the 10-year saw none. Chart: 10-year T-note.
What moved
Microsoft rose 3.66% to $516.17. On Yahoo Finance data, that is its highest close of 2026, above the $513.53 it reached on August 28. Meta fell 3.33% to $751.66 after a big run this week (our Muse coverage), and it pulled communication services down 0.90%, going by SPDR sector fund closes. Energy fell 0.89%. Industrials led with a 0.95% gain.
Akamai closed up 3.20% at $113.94. That is well short of the roughly $129 it traded at after hours on Thursday, when it disclosed its Anthropic contract. At that close, the stock sits just $2.61 above the $111.33 strike on the warrant it gave Anthropic (our breakdown of the filing).
Oil also helped. CNBC reported that November WTI crude settled down 2.33% at $92.41 a barrel after Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. For the economy, the University of Michigan's final September sentiment reading was 48.1, while one-year inflation expectations jumped to 4.6%, the highest since June. August durable goods orders were flat, better than the 0.3% drop economists had expected, CNBC reported.
Next week
The September jobs report on Friday, October 2, is forecast to show 84,000 new jobs, down from 162,000, according to our economic calendar. JOLTS comes Tuesday, and ISM manufacturing on Thursday. Preview: the week ahead.
Sources: Yahoo Finance, U.S. Treasury, CNBC, Chronicle markets board. Weekly changes are measured from the September 18 closes. This is market information, not investment advice.
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