Stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting a fresh record high as investors ended a volatile month on a high note. Traders also mulled over crucial inflation data watched closely by the Federal Reserve.

The 30-stock Dow jumped 228.03 points, or 0.55%, to close at 41,563.08. The blue-chip index touched a fresh all-time high in the final minutes of the trading session and closed at another record.

The S&P 500 advanced 1.01%, closing at 5,648.40, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.13% to end at 17,713.62.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in July and 2.5% from a year ago. The result was in line with estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, it also rose 0.2% from the prior month.

The Fed keeps a close eye on this metric, and it could still influence policymakers' rate decision in September.

"The equity markets are very much behaving as if everything is sanguine," said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management, speaking on Friday's market action. "There's more evidence for the soft landing, and there's less evidence that the Fed is going to cut aggressively."

At the end of August's trading, the S&P 500 posted a 2.3% gain for the month, while the Dow climbed nearly 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite clinched a 0.7% advance for the period. The S&P 500 notched its fourth straight winning month. A surge in consumer staples, real estate and health care helped lift the broad market index in August.

The major averages suffered a steep sell-off at the start of the month, with the S&P 500 losing as much as 7.3% before recovering. The Dow and Nasdaq were down as much as 5.4% and 10.7%, respectively, at their lows this month.

Stocks close month higher

The major stock averages closed out the month on a positive note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched another record closing high and rose 228.03 points, or 0.55%, to settle at 41,563.08. The S&P 500 increased 1.01% and finished at 5,648.40. The Nasdaq Composite also rose 1.13% and closed at 17,713.62.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Where the major averages stand

Here's where the major averages stand heading into Friday's market close.

• The S&P 500 is up 0.60%.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.20%.
• The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.65%.
• The Russell 2000 is down 0.11%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

The S&P 500 averages a negative return leading into presidential elections, Wells Fargo says

In a note from Friday, Wells Fargo wrote that the S&P 500 typically underperforms leading up to a U.S. presidential election.

"Over the past six Presidential election cycles, the SPX has averaged a negative 4.3% return (median: -1.9%) during the two-month leadup to Election Day. Small- and mid-caps averaged similar losses," the bank said.

Wells Fargo added that defensive sectors typically perform the best, with consumer staples, utilities and health care averaging respective relative returns of 3.9%, 3.4% and 2.3%. Real estate and information technology have performed the worst, averaging relative declines of 3.5% and 3%, respectively.

— Lisa Kailai Han

A very strong second-quarter earnings season is just about in the books

Only seven S&P 500 companies have yet to report this season, a sign that the second-quarter earnings season is wrapping up.

Nvidia's beat on Wednesday put the S&P 500 over the top this season — with an exactly 13% earnings growth rate for the second quarter, according to financial data firm LSEG. That is the strongest earnings growth since Q4 2021, unexpectedly passing the 11.4% growth rate from Q1 2022. Headed into earnings season, Wall Street was expecting a smaller 10.6% growth rate.

Leading the way, the tech, financials and health-care sectors all saw earnings growth of more than 20%. Only two sectors, though — materials and real estate — are ending the season with earnings contractions.

Earnings and revenue beats wound up being basically right on par with recent trends — an 80% beat rate on earnings and a 60% beat rate on revenues.

Revenue growth of 5.5% for S&P 500 companies was also modestly better than the 4.2% growth expected headed into the season. Only materials and industrials saw revenue contractions.

— Robert Hum

Super Micro Computer shares head for worst month ever

Shares of artificial intelligence server maker Super Micro Computer have plummeted 38% in August. The moves put the company on pace for its worst month on record.

The drop in shares comes amid a volatile August for favored AI names. Shares plummeted this week after the company said it would postpone the release of its annual filing and Hindenburg Research revealed a short position, alleging "accounting manipulation." Shares tanked 19% during Wednesday's session.

For the week, shares have slumped 29% and are on pace for their worst weekly stretch since October 2018. Super Micro is also the worst performer in the S&P 500 month to date.

— Samantha Subin

Q3 economic growth outlook gets a boost from latest consumer data

A stronger outlook for consumer spending is raising expectations for third-quarter economic growth.

Goldman Sachs on Friday raised its Q3 GDP tracking estimate to 2.7%, up 0.2 percentage points from its previous view, following a report showing that personal consumption expenditures increased 0.5% in July while personal income increased 0.3%.

Similarly, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow real-time tracker of incoming data raised its expected growth rate to 2.5% for the July-through-September period, up from 2.0% at the beginning of this week. The central bank said it expects PCE growth to increase 3.8% for the quarter and real gross private domestic investment to decline just 0.1%.

— Jeff Cox

Consumer staples headed for best month since 2022

Consumer staples has been the best-performing S&P 500 sector this month, rising 5.2%. That puts it on pace for its biggest one-month gain since November 2022, when it popped 6.2%.

Here are the five best-performing stocks within the group in August:

• Costco: up 8.3%.
• Coca-Cola: up 7.8%
• General Mills: up 7%
• Kimberly-Clark: up 6.8%
• Philip Morris: up 6.6%

— Fred Imbert

Bitcoin and ether slide toward big monthly losses

Major cryptocurrencies were lower on Friday and tracking for big monthly losses.

The price of bitcoin, which has wavered over $60,000 for much of August, was last lower by 2% at $58,100. It is on pace for an 11.5% monthly decline, which would make it its second down month in three and its worst month since April.

Ether fell 3% on the day and is heading for a steeper August loss of 25%. August is set to become its third negative month in a row and worst month since June 2022.

August and September are historically weak months for bitcoin and the broader market. Analysts say bitcoin is likely to remain rangebound between $50,000 and $70,000 in the weeks ahead.

— Tanaya Macheel

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

Here are the stocks on the move midday:

• Intel — The chipmaker jumped 8.5% on news that Intel is working with bankers to explore options to address weaknesses in its core business.
• Elastic NV — The stock plunged more than 27% after its fiscal second-quarter revenue forecast missed Wall Street's expectations. The artificial intelligence search company now expects revenue for the period to come in between $353 million and $355 million. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had estimated $361 million.
• MongoDB — Shares of the developer data platform surged around 16% after the company posted an earnings and revenue beat for the second quarter. MongoDB earned 70 cents per share, excluding items, on revenue of $478 million, while analysts expected 49 cents per share on $464 million in revenue, according to LSEG. The company also sees third-quarter revenue coming in between $493 million and $497 million, well above the analyst estimate of $479 million. Earnings for the current quarter are also expected to come in above expectations.

Read the full list here.

— Sean Conlon

Dollar General stocks rise slightly in wake of steep sell-off

Dollar General's stock has stopped falling, but the rebound still has a while to go before any dip buyers celebrate.

Shares of the discount retailer rose 3% on Friday, regaining a sliver of the 32% loss from Thursday. The steep slide came after Dollar General cut its outlook for sales and earnings for the full year, citing a weakening financial situation for its customers.

Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman was one of several Wall Street analysts who was critical of Dollar General after the report. Gutman downgraded stock to equal weight from overweight, saying the company has limited options for a quick rebound.

"Our Retail Funnel shows that [Amazon and Walmart] are taking significant amounts of share, leaving crumbs for everyone else. Market share gains seem unlikely to propel DG's [comparable sales growth] back to the 3% mark. And if market share gains do materialize, they will most likely be promotionally driven," the note said.

— Jesse Pound

1 stock in the S&P 500 hits new 52-week low

Just one stock in the S&P 500 hit a 52-week low during Friday's trading session: Dollar Tree.

On the other hand, 60 stocks in the broader index notched new 52-week highs. Some of the tickers that hit this milestone included:

• BlackRock
• Progressive
• Walmart
• AvalonBay Communities
• Public Storage
• Lockheed Martin
• 3M
• International Flavors & Fragrances
• Motorola Solutions
• GoDaddy

— Lisa Kailai Han, Gina Francolla

Warren Buffett turns 94 with his Berkshire at a new peak

Warren Buffett turned 94 on Friday and his sprawling, one-of-a-kind conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway just hit a key milestone, hitting a $1 trillion market capitalization.

Howard Marks, a great investor in his own right and friend of Buffett's, credits three things that have allowed the "Oracle of Omaha" to lead Berkshire to new heights, even at his advanced age: discipline, consistency and unusual insight.

Marks, 78, shared that Buffett inspired him to keep working and keep finding joy in investing.

"I still haven't retired, and I hope never to do so, following his example," Marks said. "He says that he skips to work in the morning. He tackles investing with gusto and joy."

Shares of Berkshire have gained more than 30% this year to trade above $700,000, significantly outpacing the S&P 500.

— Yun Li

Consumer staples and real estate lead August gains

Consumer staples and real estate were the top-performing sectors in the S&P 500 in August.

Kellanova's 38.4% rally for the month led consumer staples' 5.3% rise. Clorox and Kenvue also advanced around 20% and 18%, respectively.

Real estate gained 4.8% in August. Mid-America Apartment Communities and Public Storage both jumped more than 15% month to date to lead the sectors' gains.

The only sectors headed for monthly losses were energy and consumer discretionary, which fell 3% and 2.3%, respectively.

— Hakyung Kim

August is S&P 500's most volatile month in nearly 2 years

The S&P 500 is ending August not too far off its high for the month. The index is up about 2% this month, a dramatic recovery from the more than 7% decline it saw for the month back on Aug. 5. That is a swing of about 10 percentage points from low to high this month, the S&P 500's widest range in a given month since October 2022.

About two-thirds of the S&P 500 is up this month, representing a broad rally, and giving the index its fourth straight monthly gain. It is also the first time in exactly three years that the S&P 500 has risen in 9 out of 10 months.

— Robert Hum

Where the major averages stand

Here is where the major averages stand on the last trading day of the month:

• The S&P 500 is up 1.81%.
• The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.30%.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1.32%.
• The Russell 2000 is down 187%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Inflation outlook lowest since December 2020, University of Michigan survey shows

Consumers expect inflation over the next year to slip to a 2.8% rate, the lowest outlook since December 2020, according to an updated University of Michigan survey released Friday.

The August survey's headline number came in at 67.9, slightly lower than the Dow Jones forecast for 68, but still a 2.3% increase from July.

Respondents also flipped their views on the presidential rate, with 54% now expecting Vice President Kamala Harris to beat former President Donald Trump. A month ago, before Harris entered the race, 51% expected a Trump victory compared to 37% for President Joe Biden, who has since withdrawn from the race.

— Jeff Cox

Gold futures settled at 33rd record high of 2024 on Thursday

On Thursday, gold's December-dated futures gained 0.89% to settle at 2,560.3. This marked its 33rd record settle this year.

Gold is now up 23.58% year to date. The commodity is currently on pace for its fifth straight weekly gain. If gold ends August higher, this would mark its second straight positive month in a row and its fifth positive month in six.

— Lisa Kailai Han, Gina Francolla

Stocks open higher on last trading day of the month

Stocks opened higher on the last trading day of August.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 78 points, or 0.2%, after closing at a new record high on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket

Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading:

• CrowdStrike — Shares of the cloud security platform ticked up about 2% following an upgrade to buy from HSBC. Analyst Stephen Bersey asserted that "the bad news is behind us" on CrowdStrike stock regarding the mid-July outage tied to a software update.
• Lululemon — The athleisure stock advanced 4.5% after following an earnings beat. Lululemon reported $3.15 in earnings per share in the second quarter, topping an LSEG estimate of $2.93 per share. Revenue of $2.37 billion fell below a consensus of $2.41 billion. The company also lowered its full-year outlook.
• Abercrombie & Fitch — The clothing retailer added 2% after Citi upgraded shares to buy, with analyst Paul Lejuez positing that a recent sell-off presents a buying opportunity for investors at an attractive entry point.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Fed's preferred inflation gauge matches expectations for July

The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation metric, rose 0.2% in July month over month. That matched a Dow Jones consensus estimate. Year over year, it rose 2.5%, also matching expectations.

— Fred Imbert

Alibaba stocks rises after getting all-clear from Chinese market regulator

The U.S.-traded shares of Alibaba rose 4% in premarket trading after China's market regulator said the company has completed a three-year regulatory "rectification" process.

The announcement is a follow-up to a fine the State Administration for Market Regulation levied on the e-commerce company in 2021 as part of an antitrust investigation. Shares of Alibaba are down more than 60% since the fine.

The SAMR said Friday that the three-year process with Alibaba has achieved "good results," according to a Google-translated statement.

— Jesse Pound

Ulta shares drop 8% after first earnings miss in 4 years

Shares of Ulta Beauty plunged more than 8% in premarket trading after the beauty retailer fell short of second-quarter expectations and trimmed its full-year guidance after a decline in same-store sales.

It marked the company's first earnings per share miss since May 2020 and first revenue miss since December 2020.

Earlier this month, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway unveiled a $266 million bet on Ulta Beauty that it took during the second quarter. The news briefly boosted the stock, but it is still down 25% this year.

— Yun Li

Europe stocks climb ahead of key euro zone inflation data

European markets were higher on Friday as investors looked to key inflation data from across the region and the U.S.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 notched a fresh intraday record high and was last 0.35% higher at 9:43 a.m. London time. Most major regional bourses and sectors were trading in the green. Tech stocks pulled back 0.51%, while mining stocks added 1.11% and utilities rose 0.79%.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Rate cuts could benefit large-cap bank stocks for the first three months, Wells Fargo says

Large-cap bank stocks could see a boost through year-end from an interest rate cut, according to Wells Fargo.

More specifically, the bank wrote that rate cuts that coincide with no recession have typically led to bank stocks rallying after initially declining 6% in the first one or two weeks.

"While we acknowledge that historically, bank stocks have sold off for a short period following the first rate cut, banks can outperform in a soft landing scenario, increasing 21% from the post-cut low, based on data from rate cut cycles in 1995, 1998 and 2019 (pre-COVID)," Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo wrote. "We estimate banks outperformed the S&P 500 by nearly 10% from trough to peak during the quarter following the first rate cut (next Fed meeting 9/17-18)."

— Lisa Kailai Han

Lululemon and Ulta Beauty share ugly sales figures

Lululemon's earnings per share beat expectations by a solid 22 cents.

The athleisure apparel retailer seemed to hold the line on pricing, which benefited profit margins in the latest quarter. But that strategy might have come at the cost of sales volumes.

Lululemon posted its first revenue miss since March 2022 and same-store sales only rose 2%, a fraction of the 5.9% expected by Wall Street. A major problem was the slump in North America, which has seen significant sales deceleration in recent quarters. Same-store sales in the region have now gone from up 7% in the fourth quarter of last year to flat in the first quarter of this year to now down 3% in the latest quarter. Revenue guidance for both the third quarter and the full year are also weak.

There is little beauty in Ulta's results this afternoon. The cosmetics retailer posted its first earnings miss since May 2020 and its first revenue miss since December 2020. Its same-store sales fell 1.2%, while Wall Street expected a 1.2% gain. Traffic dropped nearly 2%. The company also slashed its full-year earnings, revenue and same-store sales guidance, all of which are below consensus estimates. The company now expects a same-store sales decline of up to 2% this year, while analysts projected a 2% rise.

— Robert Hum

Stock futures open in the green

U.S. stock futures opened slightly higher Thursday night.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 19 points, or 0.05%, higher. S&P 500 futures gained 0.1% while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%.

— Pia Singh