U.S. stocks hovered near the flatline Friday as investors closed out the best week of 2024, part of a market comeback from a violent rout to begin August.
The Dow Jones Industrial index regained 47.26 points to reach midday Friday at 40,610.32.
The S&P 500 index gained 5.74 points to 5,548.96.
The NASDAQ garnered 28.41 points to 17,622.91.
For the week, The S&P 500 has added more than 3%, which puts the broad market index on track for its best week since November 2023.
The NASDAQ is up 5% while the 30-stock Dow has advanced about 3%.
Shares of Nvidia are among the biggest winners among technology stocks on the week with a gain of 17%. Apple has picked up 4% and Microsoft has advanced 3%.
Retail sales data released Thursday came in much stronger than economists expected, while weekly jobless claims fell. Both offered evidence that recession fears, which helped spark a global selloff earlier this month, were overblown. Inflation readings released earlier this week bolstered hopes that a soft landing scenario was still possible.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained a bit, lowering yields to 3.91% from Thursday’s 3.92%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $1.19 at $76.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices rallied $38.90 to $2,524.
