U.S. stock markets finished significantly higher on Friday. At the close in New York, the Dow reported 52,573 points, marking a gain of 1.0 percent compared to the previous trading day. Moments earlier, the broader S&P 500 showed a 0.9 percent increase with approximately 7,657 points, while the Nasdaq 100 technology index reached around 29,368 points, also up by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, newly released inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Statistics on Friday indicated that the inflation rate remained at 3.4 percent in August 2026. The core inflation rate, which excludes energy and food, was 2.4 percent in August, down slightly from 2.5 percent in July. This signaled to investors that the efforts by the U.S. central bank to curb inflation are not yet conclusive. According to the “CME Fed Watch” tool, markets currently assign a 90 percent probability that the Federal Reserve will raise its key interest rate at its upcoming meeting on Wednesday.
In parallel, international currency and commodity markets showed mixed results. The European common currency weakened slightly on Friday evening; the euro traded at 1.1594 U.S. dollars, meaning a dollar fetched 0.8625 euros. Conversely, the price of gold benefited, rising 0.8 percent to $4,350 per fine troy ounce in the evening, which equated to 120.62 euros per gram. Oil prices, however, declined sharply. The Brent crude oil futures contract cost $105.00 per barrel around 10 p.m. German time on Friday, a decrease of 266 cents, or 2.5 percent, from the close of the previous trading day.
