US markets open flat; S&P500 and NASDAQ 100 head for weekly gains as Dow Jones lags

The US stock markets are set to open on a mixed note on Friday, e. The S&P 500 opened at fresh record highs on Friday, though largely unchanged, after the treasury yields fell below 4.65% after hitting 19-month highs. The tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 index extended its winning streak for the third consecutive session by opening over 100 points higher on Friday. Meanwhile, Dow Jones opened on a muted note with 22 points loss.

Meanwhile, the US retail sales for the July month fell 0.6% MoM, missing the expectations of 1% rise and reversing from 0.2% gain in June. The retail sales number declined for the first time since October 2025, indicating some weakness in consumer demand in the US economy.

Meanwhile, chip stocks extended their gains on Friday by rising as much as 5%. SanDisk Corporation shares rose 5%, followed by AMD +2.4%, Micron Inc +1.7%, Qualcomm +1%, were some of the top gainers.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday as caution grew over rising US Treasury yields following statements that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports could continue indefinitely, and as investors awaited US retail sales and consumer sentiment readings due later in the day.

Meanwhile, this week’s inflation numbers raised the optimism amongst the US investors over improved inflation expectations and reduced bets on rate hike in the September meeting. Initial estimates for the September meeting indicate a status quo on the interest rates with close monitoring on economic data.

The crude oil prices remained steady throughout the day and hovered near $86 per barrel mark on the Brent crude oil futures. The WTI crude oil prices hovered near $82 per barrel mark and headed for weekly gains of over 5%, recouping the partial losses of the previous week.

Top gainers & losers

The NASDAQ 100 is set to extend its winning streak for the third consecutive week as it is currently trading over 400 points higher for this week. Nebius Group N.V (+36.2%), SanDisk Corporation (+25.1%), SpaceX (+19.1%), CoreWeave Inc (+19%) and Axon Enterprise (+15%) are the top gainers for this week. On the flipside, Strategy Inc (-8.6%), Cisco Systems (-8.4%), Broadcom Inc (-6.5%), Cadence Design Systems (-6.06%) are among the top losers for this week in the NASDAQ 100 index.

The industrial benchmark index is headed for a weekly loss of 0.3% at the current level, after hitting record highs in the previous week. Meanwhile, Chevron Corporation (+7.6%), Merck & Company (+5.7%), Walmart Inc (+4.5%), Salesforce (+2.7%), JP Morgan Chase & Co (+2.6%) were the top weekly gainers. On the flipside, Home Depot (-3.9%), Travelers Companies (-3.3%), Honeywell International (-3.0%) were amongst the top losers for this week in the Dow Jones index.

The S&P 500 extended its winning streak for the third consecutive week, soaring 0.5% this week. The index gains were led by top gainers like Super Micro Computer Inc (+33%), SanDisk Corporation (+23%), Marathon Petroleum (+21.8%), Moderna Inc (+16.1%) and Phillips 66 (+15.8%). On the other hand Tapestry Inc (-21%), First Solar (-12%), Cisco Systems (-8.4%), Broadcom Inc (-7.6%) and Gartner Inc (-6.7%) were the top weekly losers for this week as of 8:00 pm IST.