Stocks rose Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated interest rate cuts were on the horizon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 462.30 points, or 1.14%, to 41,175.08. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.47% to 17,877.79. The S&P 500 gained 1.15% to finish at 5,634.61, back within striking distance of all-time highs set last month.

With Friday's gains, the three major averages also posted a winning week. The Dow surged nearly 1.3%, and the Nasdaq added 1.4%. The S&P 500 rose 1.45% for the period.

Stocks took a leg up Friday morning after Powell signaled decreases to interest rates ahead during his speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But Powell did not provide specific information on when, or by how big any cuts to the borrowing cost would be.

"The time has come for policy to adjust," Powell said during the Fed's annual retreat. "The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks."

That pleased traders, who are unanimous in betting on a rate cut at the September meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool. But there is less consensus over how big that decrease will be.

Technology stocks rallied with particular strength as investors grew hopeful that a lower-rate environment would benefit this group. Notably, Tesla and Nvidia jumped more than 4% each.

Small-cap stocks also gained on this outlook, with the Russell 2000 advancing more than 3%.

"The market is kind of breathing a sigh of relief" after Powell and other Fed speakers, said Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital.

"The market sees: 'All right, the cycle has changed,'" he said. "We haven't taken a 180 per se, but we've taken a right turn towards an easing cycle."

Stocks finish Friday higher

Stocks closed Friday in the green.

The Dow added more than 460 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 rose about 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5%.

All three indexes also ended higher by more than 1% on the week.

— Alex Harring

UBS expects rate cuts at next three FOMC meetings

UBS now expects interest rate cuts at each of the FOMC's three remaining meetings for this calendar year.

"The outlook for Fed rate cuts has shifted, with a more mixed set of labor data showing the Fed now has both the imperative and the leeway to cut interest rates," the bank wrote in a Friday note. However, UBS still emphasized that market fears of a recession seem to be "overdone."

For investors, this means that considering opportunities now that generate income may be advantageous.

"As returns on cash are eroded, we believe investors should consider diversified fixed income and equity income strategies as alternatives to cash," the bank added.

— Lisa Kailai Han

A disappointing August jobs report could mean a 50-basis-point cut in September, says PIMCO former chief economist

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech Friday morning from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, seems to indicate that the U.S. central bank is moving full steam ahead on its impending rate-cutting cycle, according to Paul McCulley.

McCulley, the former chief economist at PIMCO, calls for a base case of 25-basis-point cuts for the next eight FOMC meetings or so. But in the case of weaker growth — particularly weaker jobs — the Fed could front-load with a few 50-basis-point rate cuts.

Powell "drew a line in that we don't want to see further deceleration in the labor market — we're there," McCulley said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Friday morning. "I don't think that's the base case yet, but clearly he's opened the door for front-loading of the easing process."

To that end, McCulley believes the August jobs report, due out on Sept. 6, will be "hugely important." If the report isn't positive, he expects the odds of a 50-basis-point cut to increase at the September FOMC meeting.

— Lisa Kailai Han

'Dovish' signals in Powell speech can help market into year-end, market strategist says

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Friday speech bodes well for the market into the end of the year, according to David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation.

"Here comes the punchbowl," Russell said of the Fed leader's remarks in Wyoming. "Jerome Powell came out swinging today with a litany of dovish signals."

Powell's commentary also makes a return to the lows seen during the Aug. 5 market rout unlikely, Russell said.

"This keeps a tailwind at the market's back into year-end, making it harder to expect a retest of this month's lows," he said.

— Alex Harring

Stocks remain higher entering final trading hour

The three major indexes remained poised for gains as the final trading hour of the day and week kicked off.

The Dow and S&P 500 were both up around 0.9% as of shortly after 3 p.m. ET. The Nasdaq climbed more than 1.1%.

— Alex Harring

Uranium ETFs surge after Kazakhstan slashes 2025 production target

Uranium exchange-traded funds are surging after the world's largest producer significantly cut its production guidance for next year.

The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM) jumped more than 8% while the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) gained more than 7%, putting the ETFs on pace for their best performance since August 2022. Shares of Canadian uranium miner Cameco gained nearly 6%.

The move came after Kazakhstan's national uranium miner Kazatomprom slashed its 2025 production target by more than 15% to 25,000 to 26,500 metric tons, compared to 30,500 to 31,500 metric tons previously.

CEO Meirzhan Yussupov said the production cuts are due to limited access to sulfuric acid and delays in ramping up production at some sites.

Uranium is a crucial fuel source for nuclear power plants. Utilities, national governments and the tech sector have shown growing interest in nuclear energy as a reliable, carbon-free power source to supply rising electricity demand while meeting climate goals.

— Spencer Kimball

S&P 500's biggest weekly winners

The S&P 500 is headed for a 1% gain for the week and its second positive week in a row.

Keysight Technologies and Albemarle are the biggest gainers in the index with shares up about 14% each. Homebuilders have also contributed heavily to the index's rally with Builders FirstSource and PulteGroup both up 10%. Lennar Corporation and D.R. Horton have added at least 7%.

Retailers are also among the biggest winners this week, with Target up 10%. TJX Companies is on pace for a 7% week-to-date rally.

— Samantha Subin

Fed's Goolsbee says 'this is the moment' that Fed officials have been waiting for

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee praised Chair Jerome Powell's speech Friday but stopped short of committing to the interest rate cut in September that markets are expecting.

"The spirit of Chair Powell's speech, this is the moment. Everything that we've been waiting to happen, this is the path to that," Goolsbee told CNBC's Steve Liesman in an interview from the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conclave where Powell spoke earlier.

He did note that the most recent update to the open market committee's Summary of Economic Projections indicated rate cuts ahead, something he did not disagree with.

— Jeff Cox

Cava, Intuit among stocks making biggest midday moves

These are some of the companies making moves in midday trading:

• Cava Group — Shares of the fast-casual restaurant chain popped more than 21% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Cava posted earnings of 17 cents per share on $233 million in revenue in the fiscal second quarter. That topped LSEG estimates calling for earnings per share of 13 cents and revenue of $220 million.
• Intuit — Shares of the financial software company pulled back 7% after its current-quarter outlook missed Wall Street estimates, and overshadowed a beat on the top and bottom lines in the fiscal fourth quarter. Intuit now forecasts adjusted earnings in the range of $2.33 to $2.38 per share, while analysts polled by FactSet forecast $2.78 per share.
• Warby Parker — The eyeglass retailer gained 12% following an upgrade to market outperform from market perform at JMP Securities. Analyst Nicholas Jones cited too-low consensus estimates against Warby's "consistent market share dynamics" as a catalyst.

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

10 of 11 S&P sectors in the green this week

The market advance this week has been board-based with 10 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors headed for a positive week.

The best-performing group was real estate, which has gained 3.6% week to date. Materials also have had a great week, up more than 2%. Only the energy sector is poised for a negative week with a 0.7% loss so far.

Energy stocks came under pressure amid declining oil prices, with the U.S. benchmark falling 3% this week and global benchmark Brent pulling back 1.6%.

— Yun Li

Regional bank stocks soar in wake of Powell speech pointing to lower rates

All 91 stocks in the S&P Composite 1500 Regional Bank Index rose on Friday in the wake of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech before a conference of central bankers, saying U.S. officials are on the verge of lowering interest rates.

The S&P 1500 regional banks — comprising all the regional bank stocks in the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 indexes — surged as much as 5.5% in early trading, bringing the gain since the start of the third quarter to 16.6%.

The five-largest percentage gains in the index came in Maryland's Eagle Bancorp, recently up 11.7%; New York Community Bancorp, higher by 10.2%; Dime Community Bancshares, ahead 9.2%; Valley National Bancorp, up 8.9%; and Capitol Federal Financial, which climbed 8.9%. New York Community, Dime Community and Valley National are all based in the New York City suburbs, while Capitol Federal is in Topeka, Kansas.

The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) performed better still, climbing 6.3%, pushing its quarter-to-date performance since the end of June to 18.5%.

— Scott Schnipper

MSCI All World ex-U.S. ETF rises to highest level since January 2022

The SPDR MSCI All World ex-U.S. ETF (CWI) advanced 1.7% Friday to a new 52-week high and its highest level since January 2022.

Month to date, the global exchange-traded fund is up 2.6% after rising nearly 12% since its low on Aug. 5.

— Hakyung Kim

New home sales grow at fastest rate in more than a year

New home sales picked up the pace in July, hitting an adjusted annualized rate of 739,000, which is the highest number since May 2023, the Census Bureau said Friday.

The rate of sales was much higher than the 620,000 expected by economists, according to Dow Jones, and above the revised 668,000 number from June.

Homebuilder stocks were rising on Friday, with the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) up 2.8% and threatening to close at its highest level on record.

— Jesse Pound

Nasdaq outperforms, led by software and semiconductor stocks

The Nasdaq Composite popped around 1% during Friday's session as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled to rate cuts on the horizon.

Workday was the biggest gainer in the concentrated Nasdaq-100, surging more than 10%. Semiconductor stocks also rallied, with Marvell Technology, Arm Holdings, GlobalFoundries and Nvidia last up more than 4% each.

Tesla added more than 4%, along with Warner Bros. Discovery.

— Samantha Subin

Small caps outperform

Small-cap stocks rallied with outsized strength on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech bolstered hopes for a lower-rate backdrop.

The Russell 2000 jumped more than 2.5% as of shortly after 10:30 a.m. ET. For comparison, the broad S&P 500 rose just over 1%.

— Alex Harring

Zinc on pace for best week since April as China cuts production

Zinc prices are up more than 4% this week, the industrial metal's best performance since April as smelters in China cut back on production.

Zinc was trading at $2,884.65 per metric ton Friday morning, up $27 or 0.96%.

Zinc is used in the galvanizing process to protect iron and steel from rusting. It is also used in the electric grid, helping to protect solar panels and wind turbines.

Producers in China are cutting back due to low ore availability and weak profits. China is responsible for about half of refined zinc production worldwide.

— Spencer Kimball

Powell: ‘The time has come for policy to adjust’

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated on Friday that interest rate cuts could be coming.

Notably, the Fed chief did not provide exact details on potential timing or size for the decreases.

"The time has come for policy to adjust," Powell said in his keynote address at the Fed's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks."

— Alex Harring, Jeff Cox

Stocks open higher

The three major indexes kicked off Friday higher as traders readied for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks in Jackson Hole.

The Dow climbed more than 170 points, or 0.4%, as of shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

— Alex Harring

Fed's Bostic stops short of endorsing September rate cut

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said Friday that an interest rate cut is "in play" for September but did not make a firm commitment.

Noting that inflation improving but is still "not particularly close to our target," Bostic told CNBC's Steve Liesman that he is still waiting for more confirmation from the data that it's time for the Fed to start easing monetary policy.

"We still have a ways to go, and I don't think it's in our interest, or in anyone's interest, to just assume that we're done and so we don't have to worry about it," he said during the "Squawk Box" interview.

Bostic has said previously that he doesn't expect the Fed to cut until the fourth quarter, and only once this year, counter to market expectations.

—Jeff Cox

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Chewy — The pet retailer stock advanced more than 2% on an upgrade from Piper Sandler to outperform from neutral. Piper Sandler believes gross margin expansion and efficiency gains are upside catalysts for the stock.
• Peloton — Shares of the connected fitness company slid about 2.4%, a day after Peloton popped roughly 35% on strong quarterly results that reflected a return to sales growth for the first time in nine quarters as it slashed its costs. Peloton gave a mixed outlook for the year ahead. JPMorgan also downgraded the stock after Thursday's rally.
• Warby Parker — The glasses retailer jumped 6% after JMP Securities upgraded shares to outperform from market perform. The firm forecasts more constructive commentary from Warby Parker's management in the quarters ahead.

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

How stocks are performing this week

Just Friday is left in what is shaping up to be a choppy week. Here is where the three indexes stand week to date:

• The Dow is up 0.1%.
• The S&P 500 is up 0.3%.
• The Nasdaq Composite is down 0.1%.

— Alex Harring

Market rebound drivers are still in place, Vital Knowledge says

Despite Thursday's seesaw market action, Adam Crisafulli reiterated that the "big 3" drivers of the August snapback remain in place. These are:

• "Reassuring growth"
• Solid earnings
• Expectation of the Federal Reserve easing monetary policy

"Although in the immediate term bulls need to contend with: 1) expectations (it's possible Powell tempers hopes on the pace and magnitude of the approaching easing cycle while there's still a big chunk of the Jul-end earnings season left to go, including the two most important companies: Nvidia and Broadcom) and 2) valuations (the SPX's PE is quite elevated, which leaves little room to absorb macro setbacks)," he said.

— Fred Imbert

European markets open higher

European stocks opened higher Friday as investors look ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the session from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.11% in early deals, with all major bourses and the majority of sectors trading in the green. Oil and gas stocks rose 0.57%, while food and beverage stocks slipped 0.87%.

The U.K.'s FTSE index was 0.29% higher at 8,312, Germany's DAX was up 0.25% at 18,538, France's CAC 40 was up 0.28% at 7,545 and Italy's FTSE MIB was 0.44% higher at 33,452.

— Karen Gilchrist

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell: 

• Cava Group — The fast-casual restaurant brand saw shares climb nearly 6% in after-hours trading following a better-than-expected earnings report. 
• Uber — Shares of the ride-sharing platform fell about 3% after the company and General Motors' Cruise announced a multiyear partnership. 
• Ross Stores — The off-price retailer's stock surged about 6% in extended trading following an earnings beat. 

— Yun Li