Lucas Jackson/Reuters
- US stocks climbed higher on Friday, snapping a weekly losing streak.
- Fears of a move back to bigger rate hikes were eased as traders digested comments from Fed officials.
- Atlantic Fed President Raphael Bostic signaled support for another small hike of 25 basis-points.
US stocks climbed higher on Friday, snapping a weekly losing streak as investors dialed back fears of aggressive rate hikes.
All three indices ended the day higher, with the Dow gaining almost 400 points to break a four-week streak of losses.
Investors digested comments from Federal Reserve officials on the central bank's next policy move. Though Fed Governor Christopher J. Waller said interest rates could tread higher than markets were currently expecting, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic signaled for just a 25 basis-point hike in March, spurring a rally in stocks during the session on Thursday.
The 10-year Treasury yield retreated from the key 4% level, falling 11 basis points on Friday to 3.96%.
However, ISM manufacturing data ticked higher, from 47.4 to 47.7 last month, a sign that manufacturing activity is still expanding despite the Fed's aggressive monetary policy.
"The solid ISM survey and resilience to high interest rates will reinforce the Fed's resolve that interest rates should continue to move higher. Even so, the Fed is unlikely to go back to rate hikes of more than a quarter percent per decision," Comercia Bank chief economist Bill Adams said in a statement. "The Fed wants to tread lightly to minimize the risk that they overshoot and cause an unnecessarily severe downturn."
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Friday:
- S&P 500: 4,045.64, up 1.61%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,390.97, up 1.17% (387.40 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 11,689.01, up 1.97%
Here's what else is going on:
- There are six reasons why the stock market could see its strongest rally of 2023 over the next two months, according to Fundstrat.
- C3.ai soared 33% after the AI software company reported a big quarterly earning beat.
- Bank of America said investors should capitalize on the $900 billion AI boom by picking these 20 stocks.
- Apple could soar to a near-$4 trillion valuation thanks to five under-the-radar drivers, Morgan Stanley said.
- Russia's oil and gas revenue tanked in February as western sanctions ate into its export earnings.
- Bitcoin has tumbled to its lowest price in weeks as the crypto market roils from Silvergate's troubles.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- Oil prices rose, with West Texas Intermediate up 2% to $79.73 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.3% to $85.86 a barrel.
- Gold edged higher by about 1% to $1,860 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower 11 basis points to 3.96%
- Bitcoin fell 4.71% to $22,373.12