A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 18, 2025.
NYSE
Stocks rose Friday following a winning session that sent indexes to new records as the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates set in investors' minds.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 98 points higher, or 0.2%. The traded 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%. The small-cap Russell 2000 rose 0.1% and touched a fresh record high.
Apple led the way higher, rising 1.4%, as the company's latest iPhone went on sale around the world. Tesla shares were also up 2%.
Wall Street was on pace to post strong weekly gains. The S&P 500 and Dow are up 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively, while the Nasdaq is up 1.8%. The Russell 2000 has outperformed, rising 3%, and on pace for its seventh weekly advance.
"The market is being held afloat by the earnings numbers," said Aswath Damodaran, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, on CNBC's "Closing Bell." "As long as the earnings numbers keep coming in, there is no catalyst for an adjustment."
"It's not just Big Tech. It's not just tech," he added. "It's collectively all stocks."
Stocks also got a boost this week after the Fedlowered its benchmark overnight lending rateby a quarter percentage point, its first rate reduction since December. The move was widely expected by markets, but stocks had a volatile session on the back of the decision after Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his press conferencecharacterized the decision as a "risk management cut."
Russell's latest close ends index's second-longest streak ever without a new all-time high, Bespoke data shows
Thursday's finish for the Russell 2000 index was a momentous one, according to Bespoke.
The index closed out the previous trading day with its first all-time closing high since November 2021. That marked the end of a 967-trading day streak without the index seeing a new closing high, the research firm said.
It also found that the streak was the second longest on record for the Russell 2000, behind the 1,177-day streak that ended in November 2004.
— Sean Conlon
Major U.S. indexes open higher, tracking for winning week
Shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET on Friday, thewas 0.2% higher, while the tech-heavyNasdaq Compositeadded nearly 0.4%. TheDow Jones Industrial Averagejumped 90 points, or 0.2%.
— Pia Singh
Ray Dalio: Gold, non-fiat currencies will be 'more important store of wealth' as debt mounts
Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio said Friday that gold and non-fiat currencies will become stronger stores of value as major currencies face devaluation risks amid mounting debt pressures globally.
"We are going to see non-fiat currencies become more important store of wealth and money," Dalio said at the FutureChina Global Forum 2025, urging investors to diversify their assets with around 10% of their portfolio in gold.
Dalio warned that the excessive spending and spiraling debt by the U.S. government has become "unsustainable" and that the world's largest economy is facing a major fiscal crisis that will put its monetary order at risk. President Donald Trump's massive tax bill is expected to add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Read more here.
— Anniek Bao, Pia Singh
Trump looking to push a government-backed manufacturing boost with $550 billion fund, WSJ reports
U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not pictured) announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on Sept. 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, England.
Leon Neal | Via Reuters
The Trump administration is considering a plan to propel the construction of factories and other infrastructure in the U.S. with money froma $550 billion investment fundestablished as part of trade negotiations with Japan, the Wall Street Journal said in a Friday report.
The plan would give priority to investing in sectors such as semiconductors and critical minerals, said the report, which cited documents and people familiar with the discussions. The administration is considering granting leases to companies that would give them access to federal land and water, marking a new frontier in President Donald Trump's effort to expand his influence across the private sector, the report said.
— Pia Singh
Gold goes for 5-week winning streak
Gold futures rose 0.3% on Friday, putting the metal on pace to eke out a 0.1% advance for the week. If that small gain holds, it would stretch gold's weekly winning streak to five. Gold has been on a tear recently as the dollar falls on expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Gold futures year to date
— Fred Imbert
Lennar shares down 3% as incentives fail to stoke home demand
Construction workers at a Lennar residential housing development called Junipers in San Diego, California, on June 18, 2024.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Mortgage rate buydowns and other cost adjustments failed to tempt would-be home buyers in the third quarter, according to Lennar.
The homebuilder's stock is down more than 3% in extended trading after its earnings cratered 46%, hurt by a combination of weak demand and profit margin pressure. Although earnings topped estimates, investors were disappointed that fourth-quarter home deliveries will be shy of analyst estimates.
Lennar has been dangling incentives to coax buyers into the market, but affordability remains an issue with elevated home prices and interest rates.
In the third quarter, Lennar earned $2.29 per share on revenue of $8.81 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected Lennar to earn $2.10 per share on $9 billion in revenue.
Shares are down 2.6% year to date.
—Christina Cheddar Berk
Russell 2000 sees first record close since 2021
The small cap-focused Russell 2000 recorded its first all-time closing high since late 2021 on Thursday. The index also hit a new intraday record in the session.
With Thursday's gain, the index has jumped 3% week to date. It's on track to see its seventh straight winning week, which would be its longest rally since late 2020.
The Russell 2000
— Alex Harring, Nick Wells
See the stocks moving after hours
A pedestrian walks by a parked FedEx truck on Sept. 18, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Two well-known stocks were making big moves in after-hour trading.
FedEx shares popped 5.8% following a better-than-expected earnings report for the fiscal first quarter. FedEx earned an adjusted $3.83 per share on $22.24 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG forecasted $3.59 per share and $21.66 billion.
Scholastic, on the other hand, fell 11%. The publisher posted a loss per share of $2.52 for the fiscal first quarter, excluding items, wider than the loss of $2.13 per share seen in the same period a year prior.
— Alex Harring
Stock futures are little changed
Futures tied to the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 all ticked about 0.1% higher shortly after 6 p.m. ET Thursday.
— Alex Harring
