\n\tShares of Spotify rose 8.0% to $365.00 this week to lead all music stocks in a week the Billboard Global Music Index reached a new high and many of its largest components posted mid- to high-single digit gains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Swedish music streaming giant was boosted by a report by Pivotal Research Group that increased its price target to $510<\/a> from $460 and reiterated its \u201cbuy\u201d rating. Spotify\u2019s intraday high of $368.29 on Thursday set a new 52-week high for the stock and was its best mark since Feb. 21, 2021.<\/p>\n \n\tSpotify led the 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) to a record high 1,873.87, up 4.1% for the week, as ten of the stocks posted gains this week, nine lost value and one was unchanged. After a 4.8% drop the week ending Sept. 6 and stagnating since March, the BGMI has gained 7.4% in the last two weeks and raised its year-to-date gain to 22.2%\u2014more than two percentage points above the gains of the Nasdaq composite (up 19.6%) and the S&P 500 (also up 19.6%).\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tStocks generally had a good week after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday a rate cut of half a percentage point<\/a>, the first time the central bank lowered the overnight borrowing rate since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors had expected the Fed\u2019s move, though, and had priced the effect of a rate cut into stock prices. Still, the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5% to 17,948.32 and the S&P 500 rose 1.4% to 5,702.55. South Korea\u2019s KOSPI composite index improved 0.7% to 2,736.81 and China\u2019s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2% to 2,736.81. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 fell 0.5% to 8,229.99.<\/p>\n \n\tWarner Music Group gained 4.9% to $30.44. WMG\u2019s Atlantic Music Group laid off about 150 people Thursday<\/a> as part of a restructuring plan that began in February. The week\u2019s intraday high of $30.88 was WMG\u2019s highest price since reaching $32.34 on July 24.\u00a0The company also announced<\/a> in an SEC filing this week it secured a $1.3 billion term loan that will be used to repay an existing loan and pay associated fees and expenses.<\/p>\n \n\tLive Nation shares also gained 4.9% to $103.65 and brought its year-to-date improvement to 10.7%. Thursday\u2019s intraday high of $105.42 was its highest mark since April 1 and less than $2 below its 52-week high of $107.24. The concert promoter scored a win in Portland, Ore., this week after the city council upheld<\/a> an August decision to allow the development of a 3,500-capacity music venue that will be operated by Live Nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tTwo other promoters also posted gains this week. MSG Entertainment, rose 4.6% to $42.16, while CTS Eventim improved 1.2% to 87.90 euros ($98.23). Another live entertainment company, Sphere Entertainment Co., dropped 2.7% to $41.09.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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