Dow closes nearly 170 points higher, S&P 500 and Nasdaq post worst week since December: Live updates
The S&P 500 eked out a narrow gain in Friday’s session but still had the worst week in nearly two months.
The broad index was up just 0.2% to end the session at 4,090.46. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.61% to close at 11,718.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 169.39 points, or 0.5%, to end at 33,869.27.
Despite the Dow’s Friday gain, it still ended the week down 0.17%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 1.11% and 2.41%, respectively, in what was their worst week since December.
Investors digested the most recent interest rate hike, economic data and recent commentary from Federal Reserve speakers, said Shana Sissel, founder of Banríon Capital Management. That caused intraday moves, she said, as investors changed positions while predicting how the central bank will act on interest rates going forward.
“There’s some mixed signals here, which I think is why volatility is up,” Sissel said. “There’s not really a consensus coming out with leading indicators that give you a lot of confidence of what’s coming next. And the markets hate that.”
Those are the latest reports in what has been considered an underwhelming quarter by Wall Street. With nearly 70% S&P 500 companies reporting, around 70% of those companies beat analyst expectations for the quarter. That’s a smaller share of companies surpassing expectations than the three-year historical average of 79%, according to The Earnings Scout.
Dow and S&P 500 end session up but all three indexes end week lower
All three indexes ended the week down despite two posting gains in Friday’s session.
The Dow closed up 0.5%, but still end the week down 0.2%. The S&P 500 added 0.2% at close after vacillating around the flatline for much of Friday’s session, but ended the week down 1.1%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6% in the session, pushing the technology-heavy index down 2.4% for the week.
It marked the worst weeks for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since December.
— Alex Harring
5 HOURS AGO
WTI had its strongest week since October
WTI closed on Friday with its best week since October.
It rose 8.63% this week, marking its strongest week since Oct. 7, when WTI gained 16.54%. This was also its first positive week in three weeks.
WTI settled up 2.13% at $79.72 and hit a session high of $80.33. This was the highest level since Jan. 30, when it traded as high as $80.49.
