Friday's trading session saw another robust rally on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both reaching new record highs, fueled by better-than-expected third-quarter earnings from major U.S. banks.

The S&P 500 surged past 5,800 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 42,800.

Leading the charge were top U.S. financial institutions, which kicked off the earnings season with strong results. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE:BK), and BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) all beat analysts’ earnings expectations. The upbeat results from these banking giants triggered a rally in financial stocks, pushing the sector to an all-time high.

Furthermore, gains spilled over to regional banks and the broader small-cap universe, as the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) and the Russell 2000 rallied 2.7% and 1.7%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) plunged by 8%, on track for its worst session in more than a month, with analysts expecting further declines after the lack of clear business plans for robotaxis and no updates on the lower-cost production vehicle, following the highly anticipated Robotaxi Day on Thursday.

On the macroeconomic front, inflation remains in focus. Following Thursday’s hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, Friday's Producer Price Index (PPI) data also came in above forecasts, indicating a setback in the disinflationary narrative.

Despite the inflation uptick, market expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in November remained largely unchanged. According to CME's FedWatch tool, there is still an 85% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut next month.

In the commodities space, oil prices steadied after surging 3.5% on Thursday, amid a lack of relevant news from the Middle East front. Gold advanced 1.2%, while silver gained 1.4%.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) also posted notable gains, rising over 3% in response to the strong earnings report from BlackRock, which showed higher-than-expected fund inflows. Investors appear optimistic about continued institutional interest in cryptocurrencies.

Friday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Russell 2000	2,223.00	1.7%
Dow Jones	42,727.13	0.6%
S&P 500	5,807.71	0.5%
Nasdaq 100	20,259.87	0.1 %

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 0.4% to $578.52.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.6% to $427.37.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) held steady at $492.55.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 1.6% to $220.38.
• The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) outperformed, up 1.9%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) lagged, down 0.4%.

Friday’s Stock Movers

• Uber Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:UBER) rose 9.1% in reaction to the dismal Robotaxi event.
• Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 4.8% in reaction to upbeat quarterly earnings.
• Other banks reacting to earnings reports were Wells Fargo & Co., up 6.1%, BlackRock Inc., up 2.4%, and Bank of New York Mellon, down 1.8%.
• Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) rallied 9.1% after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings.
• Shares of Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) rallied over 10% after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock from Equal Weight to Overweight.

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