The S&P 500 rose 72.88 points to 4,280.15, while the Dow gained 424.38 points to 33,761.05. The Nasdaq added 267.27 points to 13,047.19.
Wall Street surged higher to close the week. Credit:AP
Small-company stocks also made strong gains in a sign that investors are confident about the economy. The Russell 2000 rose 41.36 points to 2,016.62.
The central bank has been raising interest rates in the hopes of slowing the economy and cooling the hottest inflation in four decades, but investors are worried that it could hit the brakes too aggressively and steer the economy into a recession.
On Friday, a survey by the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment is stronger than economists expected. Still, inflation remains painfully high. That means the Fed is likely to remain on course with its rate hikes until it is certain that prices have peaked and are easing.
The Fed’s last two increases were by 0.75 percentage points. Traders now see about a 60 per cent chance that the central bank will raise overnight interest rates by half a percentage point at its next meeting.
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The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.84 per cent from 2.88 per cent late on Thursday. It remains below the two-year yield. That’s an unusual investment of the expectation that borrowing money for a longer period should cost more than a shorter period. When investors demand a higher return for a short term like the 2-years than a longer one like 10 years, it’s viewed by some investors as a reliable signal of a pending recession. The economy has already contracted for two consecutive quarters.
withAP
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