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U.S. stocks gain for the day

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Expedia ( EXPE ) gains after Q2 profit beat

(Updates to 4 p.m. ET)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 ended higher on Friday and was little changed

for the week after clawing back from Monday's steep dive that

was prompted by fears of a recession and unwinding of a global

yen-funded carry trade.

The technology sector led gains in the index

for the day, while the Cboe Volatility Index, Wall

Street's "fear gauge", was down on Friday after surging to 65.73

at the start of the week.

On Thursday, Fed policymakers expressed confidence that

inflation was cooling enough to allow interest-rate cuts ahead,

and will take their cues on the size and timing of those cuts

from the economic data.

Monday's big decline followed a sharp sell-off last week

as a weaker-than-expected July jobs report sparked recession

fears, and the Bank of Japan's decision to hike interest rates

on July 31 led to a sharp appreciation in the yen. That resulted

in the unwinding of currency carry trade positions in which the

yen is used to buy high-yielding assets.

"For most of the last week the negative opinions were

driving sentiment and direction and those have been outweighed

by a little less pessimism," in recent days, said Michael James,

managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los

Angeles.

But, he said, "there is going to continue to be a

significant amount of uncertainty and anxiety hanging over the

market for the course of the next month until we get to the next

Fed meeting."

Investors see a 55% chance that the Federal Reserve will

cut interest rates by 50 basis points at its next policy meeting

on Sept. 17-18, with a 25 basis point cut seen as having a 45%

probability, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 25.11 points, or 0.47%, to end at 5,344.42 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 85.65 points, or

0.51%, to 16,745.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 49.86 points, or 0.13%, to 39,496.35.

Investors also await next week's readings on U.S. consumer

prices and retail sales for July, which could provide fresh

evidence on the chances of a soft landing for the American

economy.

Among individual stocks, videogame publisher Take-Two

Interactive Software ( TTWO ) climbed as it expects net bookings

to grow in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

Expedia ( EXPE ) also advanced after the online travel

agency beat analysts' expectations for second-quarter profit.

(Additional reporting by Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan in

Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)