by Stephen Culp
PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply higher on Friday as signs of a spike in inflation and resilient consumer spending prompted investors to approach a long three-day weekend with optimism growing as to the ability of the Federal Reserve to tighten its monetary policy without tipping the economy into recession.
The three major U.S. stock indexes ended their longest streak of weekly losses in decades.
The S&P and Nasdaq have suffered seven consecutive weekly declines, the longest streak since the end of the dotcom bust, while the Dow’s eight-week fall is the longest since 1932.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.76% to 33,212.96 points, the broader S&P-500 gained 2.47% to 4,158.24 points while the Nasdaq Composite closed up 3.33 % at 12,131.13 points.
Rather optimistic earnings forecasts and solid economic indicators have fueled hopes that the Fed will be able to curb inflation without triggering a recession.
“The market has now priced in a lot of the negative news,” said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at GLOBALT in Atlanta. “We have now absorbed this news and the actions the Fed is going to take, and we are ending earnings season.”
“Stocks of Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Tesla Inc were the biggest performers.
The first quarter earnings season is largely over, as 488 companies in the S&P 500 have released their results. Of these, 77% exceeded consensus expectations, according to Refinitiv.
(French version Jean-Michel Bélot)
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