Wall Street stayed steady on Friday, brushing off worries from earlier in the week that hit bank stocks hard. By midday, major U.S. indexes were slightly up, setting the stage for a positive end to the week.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.2% to 6,650 points, nearly recovering from Thursday’s dip. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 both edged up 0.3%, showing renewed investor confidence. Financial stocks, which had taken a hit midweek, rebounded strongly. The SPDR Regional Banking ETF (KRE) rose by 1.1%, while the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) increased by 0.5%.

American Express (AXP) led the pack with a 6.2% surge in its stock price after reporting better-than-expected earnings and issuing strong guidance for the future. Meanwhile, Oracle (ORCL) fell over 6% as Wall Street questioned its aggressive growth plans for its AI cloud business.

In commodities, gold’s hot streak cooled off sharply. The price dropped 3% to $4,200 per ounce as investors locked in profits. Silver also fell hard, losing 5.9% to settle at $50.90.

Crypto markets continued their slide. Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 1.6% to $106,000, marking its fourth straight day of losses. Ethereum (ETH) followed with a 2.5% fall to $3,800, as risk-off sentiment spread across digital assets.

Here’s how key ETFs and indices performed:

– Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): +0.2% to $608.21
– SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA): +0.2% to $460.52
– Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ): +0.2% to $601.32
– iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): -1.2% to $242.22

Sector ETFs saw mixed results:

– Consumer Staples (XLP): +0.5%
– Utilities (XLU): -0.6%

Top earnings movers on Friday:

– American Express (AXP): +6.3%, boosted by strong financial results
– Truist Financial (TFC): +3.4%, rebounding after recent losses
– CSX Corp (CSX): +2.8%, positive investor reaction to earnings
– Ally Financial (ALLY): +2.1%
– Comerica Inc (CMA): +1.4%
– Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB): +1.1%
– Huntington Bancshares (HBAN): +0.7%

Some companies didn’t fare as well:

– Interactive Brokers (IBKR): -3.1%
– State Street Corp (STT): -3.3%
– SLB Ltd (SLB): -2.5%
– Oracle (ORCL): -6.76%, leading S&P 500 declines
– Regions Financial Corp (RF): -0.2%
– Webster Financial Corp (WBS): -0.4%

In summary, despite earlier concerns around credit and banking, U.S. markets showed resilience heading into the weekend, with gains led by strong corporate earnings and a rebound in financial stocks. However, caution lingered in commodities and crypto, where investors took profits and reduced risk exposure.

Key market terms: S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, American Express stock, Oracle stock drop, gold price decline, Bitcoin downtrend, Ethereum price, financial sector rebound, ETF performance, earnings movers today.