Stocks End Higher On Wall Street But Weekly Losses Sustained

Technology firms led stocks broadly higher on Wall Street Friday, though the gains were not enough to erase the market’s losses from earlier in the week, Alex Veiga reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: View of the New York Stock Exchange trading floor from the ceremonial bell.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.8%, but still posted a weekly loss of 0.6% after two weeks of gains. Even so, the benchmark index is less than 1% from the all-time high it set Monday. More than 80% of S&P 500 companies notched gains, including tech sector stocks.

Microsoft rose 2.6% and chipmaker Nvidia gained 5.1% for the biggest gain in the index. A mix of companies that rely on consumer spending and communications stocks also made up a big share of the rally. Energy stocks also rose, despite another decline in the price of US crude oil. Treasury yields mostly rose.

The S&P 500 rose 35.87 points to 4,441.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 225.96 points, or 0.7%, to 35,120.08. The Nasdaq composite picked up 172.87 points, or 1.2%, to 14,714.66. The Dow and Nasdaq also posted weekly losses.

Small-company stocks recovered some of their losses from earlier in the week. The Russell 2000 index added 35.18 points, or 1.7%, to 2,167.60. The index still finished with a 2.5% weekly drop. Bond trading was quiet. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.26% from 1.24% late Thursday.

Fund managers aren’t expecting much volatility this month as investors will have little data to work with. August also tends to be a popular time for investors to take vacations, so trading volume typically declines. September tends to be a much more volatile month once Wall Street is back to work.

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