S&P 500 rises as bonds hit 52-week lows after hot core CPI
The S&P 500 rose 0.84% on Friday, September 11, 2026, as August core CPI increased 0.3% and bond funds tagged 52-week lows; West Texas Intermediate fell 2.2% to $100.26 a barrel.
Shortly after a hotter-than-forecast core CPI release at 8:30 a.m. ET, CME FedWatch priced a roughly 91% chance of a quarter-point increase at next week's Federal Reserve meeting, up from about 72% on Thursday. Short, intermediate, inflation-protected, and investment-grade bond funds all tagged 52-week lows. The day's most striking move in stocks was AI hardware: Dell Technologies jumped 12%, hit an all-time high, and closed at $567.14; Hewlett Packard Enterprise gained 12%. The S&P 500 rose 0.84% to 7,655.50, ending four straight declines. By the close, nine of 11 sector funds were up, the Cboe Volatility Index had fallen 11% to 15.85, and 3,375 of 4,666 U.S.-listed ETFs finished in the green. The bounce was real. It was also incomplete.
Nine of 11 sector funds closed higher
- +1.3%
- +1.1%
- +1.0%
- +0.9%
- +0.8%
- +0.6%
- +0.4%
- +0.4%
- +0.3%
- −0.2%
- −0.3%
August core consumer prices rose 0.3% from July, more than the 0.2% economists had forecast, according to Reuters. Headline CPI increased 0.4% and 3.4% from a year earlier, both in line with forecasts. Gasoline climbed 3.9% and accounted for more than a third of the monthly increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
If Friday were a clean all-clear on inflation, the rate-sensitive funds would have said so. The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF IEF closed at $91.01 after trading $90.98, its 52-week low, and investment-grade credit fund LQD tagged a 52-week low as well; short Treasury fund SHY and TIPS fund TIP did the same. High-yield fund HYG slipped 0.03% to $78.60, three cents above its own 52-week low, the fifth down session since September 4.
Houthi forces took Perim Island, the rock that splits the Bab el-Mandeb into two shipping lanes, according to Yemeni government sources. Amplify's tanker-shipping fund BWET, which holds oil-tanker freight futures on the Middle East-to-China route, jumped 12% on $203 million of turnover. Crude still fell 2.2% after reports that Gulf Arab foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
AI server suppliers rally after Oracle
Apple, Amazon, and the two Alphabet share classes were the largest contributors to the S&P 500 ETF SPY. Nvidia finished flat.
Oracle, after the close on Thursday, reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $19.3 billion, up 30%, and said cloud-infrastructure revenue rose 121% to $7.4 billion. Non-GAAP earnings were $1.92 a share, against a $1.74 estimate. The company lifted fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to at least $90 billion. Oracle shares still closed 1.8% lower at $150.15, giving back an early gain.
The suppliers did not. RBC Capital initiated coverage of Dell at Outperform with a $640 target, 13% above Friday's close. Dell is already up 351% this year. Cisco rose 4.4%. Super Micro Computer gained 7.3%. State Street's technology sector fund XLK led the board at +1.3%, and the semiconductor fund SOXX added 1.9%.
It was a size split. BlackRock's Russell 2000 fund IWM gained only 0.4%, even as it turned over 1.51 times its 20-session median. Regional-bank fund KRE was barely higher. Health care fund XLV fell 0.2%, its fifth straight decline, and utilities fund XLU dropped 0.3%, its third.
The week Friday did not repair
The University of Michigan's preliminary September consumer survey fell to 47.8 from 51.7 in August. Households' one-year inflation expectations rose to 4.6% from 4.0%. Consumer discretionary fund XLY still gained 0.9%.
The five-session scorecard is the honest one. Friday repaired a single session of an oil week. It did not repair the week.
Crude falls; the oil shock does not
West Texas Intermediate settled at $100.26 a barrel, down $2.22. Brent fell 2.7% to $104.68. The crude-oil fund USO dropped 2.2% to $154.90, 2.5% below its 52-week high.
USO's 9% week survived a 2.2% Friday drop
Energy stocks did not give that back. The energy sector fund XLE rose 0.3% to $65.13, 1.6% below its own 52-week high. A one-day decline does not unwind a week in which oil reclaimed $100 and gasoline was already 27% higher than a year earlier in the CPI.
If you hold a broad U.S. equity fund, Friday handed back a slice of this week's drawdown: SPY recovered about 42% of its four-session drop from the September 3 close. If you hold Treasurys or high yield, Friday extended the damage.
SPY bounced; IEF kept falling
- SPY · 764.29
- IEF · 91.01
Next week's Federal Reserve meeting will have to live with both closes.
Frequently asked
Why did stocks rise on a hot inflation print?
AI hardware suppliers rallied after Oracle's cloud results, with Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise each up 12% and technology leading nine of 11 sectors higher.
What did the bond market do?
Short, intermediate, inflation-protected and investment-grade bond funds all tagged 52-week lows, and high yield closed three cents above its own.
What are markets now expecting from the Fed?
CME FedWatch priced a roughly 91% chance of a quarter-point increase at next week's meeting, up from about 72% the day before.
Did the drop in crude undo the oil move?
No: West Texas Intermediate fell 2.2% but stayed above $100, the oil fund held a 9% weekly gain, and energy stocks finished higher.