Stocks End Week Lower Despite Friday Rally Amid CPI Data and Oil Price Drop
On September 11, 2026, U.S. stocks surged on Friday but still ended the week lower due to a mixed economic outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), S&P 500 (^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all rose by about 1% for the day after oil prices retreated slightly from their recent highs, which had been driven up by geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The August CPI report showed that consumer inflation matched expectations at a year-over-year increase of 3.4%, with core CPI rising to 2.4%. This data increased market anticipation for another Federal Reserve rate hike in its upcoming policy meeting, pushing traders' odds up from 69% to 87%. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed above 4.97%, reaching a high not seen since October 2023. Despite the day's gains and strong performance by tech stocks like Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Dell Technologies (DELL), which saw double-digit jumps, the broader market struggled to maintain momentum for the week.
Topics: CPI inflation Federal Reserve policy oil prices stock market