U.S. stocks traded mixed but mostly higher at midday Friday as crude oil retreated on hopes for an Iran-brokered reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, even as Treasury yields pushed toward their highest level since 2007 after this week’s Trump-Xi trade summit.
Washington and Beijing extended their trade truce without announcing new tariffs.
| Index | Last | % Change | MTD | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,708.60 | +0.06% | +0.43% | +16.03% |
| Dow Jones | 51,475.65 | +0.24% | -3.72% | +11.31% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 30,459.82 | -0.06% | +4.23% | +24.31% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,827.83 | -0.27% | -5.92% | +16.17% |
According to the Benzinga Pro platform:
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) rose 0.4% even as Nike weighed on the group, with strength elsewhere in consumer names offsetting the drag.
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) also outperformed, lifted by Meta’s gain.
Cloud-infrastructure and AI-data-center names were the session’s most volatile corner of the market following Akamai’s blockbuster deal with Anthropic.
Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) surged as much as 15% intraday after Anthropic committed to an $11.6 billion, seven-year cloud-infrastructure deal, though shares pared part of the gain as investors weighed the roughly $5.5 billion in capital expenditures Akamai will front ahead of that revenue.
The deal also lifted infrastructure peers CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV), up 3.7% on sympathy buying, and Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE:NET), up 1.8%.
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) climbed 5.0% as it rebounded from Thursday’s selloff, after Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) said its delayed New Mexico data-center project “remains on our planned schedule,” easing fears that the slippage would disrupt Dell’s server and AI-rack shipments to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Meta’s roughly 4% gain came from the same story pressuring one of the session’s biggest losers: Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO) slid 5.9% after HSBC downgraded the stock to Reduce, arguing the market’s “Muse rally has gone too far” amid doubts about near-term AI monetization for communications-software names.
Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) tumbled 8.7%, even after beating fiscal fourth-quarter estimates — adjusted EPS of $1.19 versus $1.08 expected, revenue of $898.2 million versus $877.4 million expected — and guiding fiscal 2027 EPS and revenue above consensus.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) fell 8% despite CEO Ryan Cohen‘s $26 million insider stock purchase disclosed earlier in the week. With no fresh negative catalyst in the tape, the move looks like profit-taking after the stock’s roughly 29% rally over the past month.
The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) declined 3.9% on no confirmed catalyst, with shares continuing to swing alongside broader volatility in potash and fertilizer markets this week.
Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) declined 2% to $35.18 after Bank of America downgraded the stock to Underperform and cut its price target to $30, citing a turnaround now pushed out roughly 12 months by weak North America wholesale trends, China demand softness and elevated inventory.
Peers Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE:DKS) rose 2% and On Holding AG (NYSE:ONON) was little changed, a sign Nike’s troubles remain brand-specific rather than category-wide.
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Akamai Technologies | +15.0% |
| Dell Technologies | +5.0% |
| Meta Platforms | +4.0% |
| CoreWeave | +3.7% |
| Cloudflare | +1.8% |
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Zscaler | -8.7% |
| GameStop | -8.0% |
| Twilio | -5.9% |
| The Mosaic Company | -3.9% |
| Nike | -2.0% |