Stocks closed higher on Wall Street following a batch of mixed news on the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6% Friday. The benchmark index still wound up with its third weekly loss in a row.
A key measure of inflation continued to slow, but it’s still far higher than anyone wants to see. Also, growth in consumer spending weakened last month by more than expected, but incomes were a bit stronger than expected. Markets are in a tricky spot where relatively solid economic data reduces the risk of a recession but also raises the threat of higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve.
On Friday:
The S&P 500 rose 22.43 points, or 0.6%, to 3,844.82.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 176.44 points, or 0.5%, to 33,203.93.
The Nasdaq rose 21.74 points, or 0.2%, to 10,497.86.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 6.85 points, or 0.4%, to 1,760.93.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is down 7.54 points, or 0.2%.