U.S. Stocks Rise as Investors Try to Keep Winning Streak Alive

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are staging a rally, heading for the S&P 500's fourth-straight week of gains as investor expectations about the economy brighten.

At 10:28 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 106 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.6% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.9%.

If the S&P does end positive for the week, it would be its longest stretch of gains since last November. The Dow is also up for the week so far, as is the Nasdaq, which has climbed out of bear market territory.

The better than expected inflation report earlier this week, showing the pace of price increases cooled from June to July, is boosting sentiment that the Federal Reserve won’t have to raise interest rates as aggressively as it has at its last two meetings. 

If inflation has peaked, as the thinking goes, the Fed’s chances of guiding the economy to a “soft landing,” or a recovery without large job losses, improve.

The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment reading for August was 55.1, stronger than the expected 52.5, signaling consumers are starting to feel better about the direction of the economy. Big retail earnings from Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT) are also on tap in the coming days.

Shares of Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) fell 8% after the gene sequencing company reported lower than expected profit and revenue and issued a disappointing outlook, citing the challenging economic environment.

Shares of restaurant software maker Olo Inc (NYSE:OLO) tumbled 33% after a disappointing quarter and full-year revenue outlook.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 2.3%, to $92.13 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was down 1.9%, to $97.61 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 0.2%, to $1,810 an ounce.