This Week on Wall Street

U.S. stocks rallied on Friday to snap a four-session losing streak, though all three major benchmarks still finished the holiday-shortened week lower: the S&P 500 fell 0.8% week-to-date to 7,656.98, the Dow Jones dropped 1.6% to 52,573.29 in its worst week since March, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.7% to 26,333.04. Friday's bounce came as August CPI matched expectations, holding at 3.4% year-over-year, and WTI crude eased back below $100 to about $99.99 a barrel, taking some pressure off the inflation fears sparked by an oil spike tied to U.S.-Iran tensions in the Persian Gulf earlier in the week. Communication Services and Energy led the week's sectors, while Technology and Real Estate lagged as the 10-year Treasury yield hovered near 4.96%, close to its highest level since 2023. The VIX tumbled to 15.84, down more than 11% on the day, even as the CNN Fear & Greed Index still reads 31 (Fear). Traders now assign roughly a 69% probability to a Fed rate hike at next week's September 16 FOMC decision, following a surprisingly strong August jobs report that added 162,000 positions while unemployment held steady at 4.1%. Attention now turns to next week's Fed meeting and Lennar's earnings for an early read on how surging yields are hitting the housing market.