US open: Dow continues to rally, Nasdaq heads south

Wall Street stocks were mostly in the green early on Friday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones on track for an eighth-straight winning session.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.30% at 39,507.29, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.09% to 5,218.75 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.13% weaker at 16,324.59.

The Dow opened 119.53 points higher on Friday, extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Comments from the Federal Reserve that an interest rate hike was unlikely to be on the horizon continued to drive markets amid a strong Q1 earnings season and following softer-than-expected jobs data.

On the macro front, consumer sentiment in the United States dropped to a six-month low in May, according to a preliminary reading of a closely watched survey from the University of Michigan, falling much more than economists were expecting. UoM's survey of consumers showed that the index of consumer sentiment declined to just 67.4 this month, down from 77.2 in April and the lowest level since November 2023.

The sharp fall followed three straight months of little change, with consumers worried that inflation, unemployment and interest rates may all be moving in an "unfavourable direction" in the year ahead, the university said. The current economic conditions sub-index fell to 68.8 from 79.0 the month before, while the index of consumer expectations dropped to 66.5 from 76.0.

Still to come, the Federal Government's April budget statement was due for release at 1900 BST.

Elsewhere, a number of central bankers will make comments on Friday, with governor Michelle Bowman, Minneapolis president Neel Kashkari, Dallas president Lorie Logan, Chicago president Austan Goolsbee and vice chairman Michael Barr all scheduled to deliver speeches.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

3M Co. (MMM) $98.42 1.11%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $355.61 1.09%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $277.81 0.96%
American Express Co. (AXP) $241.37 0.93%
Visa Inc. (V) $280.82 0.82%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $17.38 0.75%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $198.98 0.75%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $59.87 0.70%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $458.52 0.65%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $63.28 0.64%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $92.13 -1.35%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $183.23 -0.73%
Boeing Co. (BA) $179.98 -0.70%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $149.56 -0.19%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $219.21 -0.09%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $47.79 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $313.00 0.04%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $60.48 0.07%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.84 0.13%

S&P 500 - Risers

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $23.35 14.80%
Mettler Toledo International (MTD) $1,467.95 13.76%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $1.72 7.19%
H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $52.65 7.02%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $4.88 4.27%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $273.03 3.45%
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $305.45 3.17%
Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) $149.72 3.16%
Waters Corp. (WAT) $344.66 2.45%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $23.60 2.21%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $93.42 -8.83%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $17.71 -3.28%
International Paper Co. (IP) $38.59 -3.14%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $273.18 -2.57%
Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) $12.65 -2.54%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $130.68 -2.15%
Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $39.52 -2.11%
Celanese Corp. (CE) $158.30 -1.93%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $6.67 -1.77%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $179.74 -1.74%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $23.35 14.80%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $273.03 3.45%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $932.25 2.05%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $210.00 1.78%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $119.90 1.77%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $1,327.64 1.68%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $720.78 1.42%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $65.48 1.39%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $557.47 1.38%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $920.00 1.37%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $273.18 -2.57%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $108.98 -1.70%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $168.08 -1.11%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $169.87 -1.00%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $60.49 -0.87%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $170.51 -0.85%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $183.23 -0.73%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $72.92 -0.71%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $110.60 -0.67%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $1,024.05 -0.65%