Stocks end higher, giving S&P 500 its best week since July

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Wall Street added to its caller gains Friday arsenic stocks closed higher, driving the S&P 500 to its champion week since July.

The S&P 500 roseate 0.7% for its 3rd consecutive summation and ended the week 1.8% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average roseate 1.1% and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.5%.

The latest rally came arsenic investors welcomed encouraging quarterly study cards from respective companies. Leading the mode for the S&P 500 was freight deliverer J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which jumped 8.7% aft reporting stronger profits for the summertime than Wall Street expected. Goldman Sachs roseate 3.8% and Alcoa surged 15.2% aft it bushed net expectations and announced a dividend outgo and buyback of its stock.

The affirmative institution net dovetailed with a study showing people spent overmuch much astatine U.S. retailers past month than Wall Street expected. Sales astatine stores, restaurants and different retail establishments roseate 0.7% from August alternatively of falling, arsenic economists forecast.

“We saw retail income this greeting travel successful beauteous strong,” said Sameer Samana, elder planetary marketplace strategist astatine Wells Fargo Investment Institute. "(Stocks) are inactive astatine beauteous tenable valuations with different net play having conscionable ticked on, and frankincense acold astatine least, immoderate beauteous bully results.”

The S&P 500 roseate 33.11 points to 4,471.37. The Dow gained 382.20 points to 35,294.76, and the Nasdaq roseate 73.91 points to 14,897.34.

Friday's summation follows up connected a 1.7% leap for the S&P 500 Thursday, its champion time since March, which was driven by stronger-than-expected net reports and encouraging information connected the occupation market.

It's a turnaround from a shaky fewer weeks, erstwhile the benchmark scale fell arsenic overmuch arsenic 5.2% from its grounds acceptable connected Sept. 2. Worries astir stubbornly precocious inflation, reduced enactment for markets from the Federal Reserve and a slowing system helped to sound banal prices around. The S&P 500 is backmost wrong 1.5% of its all-time high.

Earnings reporting play has conscionable begun, but aboriginal indicators are encouraging. All but 1 of the 19 companies successful the S&P 500 that reported quarterly results this week topped analysts' nett forecasts. Such spot is important aft climbing involvement rates heightened worries that banal prices had grown excessively costly comparative to profits.

The stronger-than-expected reports connected the system besides assistance calm chatter astir “stagflation," which is the feared matrimony of a stagnating system and precocious inflation.

Of course, each is not wide yet. A study connected Friday showing user sentiment was weaker than expected amid ostentation worries helped bounds the market's gains.

Still, stocks of companies whose profits are astir intimately tied to the spot of the economy, including retailers, automakers and travel-related businesses, led the mode higher Friday. Amazon roseate 3.3%, Tesla added 3% and Marriott International gained 3.1%.

Other than fiscal companies, which benefited from the better-than-expected nett reports from respective big-name banks, concern and wellness attraction businesses were besides among the strongest gainers. Caterpillar roseate 2.4%, portion UnitedHealth added 1.8%.

Johnson & Johnson gained 0.7% aft a Food and Drug Administration sheet endorsed booster doses of the company's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. The sheet said Friday that the booster should beryllium offered astatine slightest 2 months aft immunization but didn’t suggest a steadfast time.

Treasury yields besides roseate pursuing the overmuch stronger-than-expected study connected retail sales. The output connected the 10-year enactment climbed to 1.57% from 1.52% precocious Thursday.

“The biggest astonishment connected rates continues to beryllium however debased they are comparative to each the anecdotal grounds and each the information astir ostentation that we see,” Samana said.

Higher Treasury yields successful caller weeks person been holding backmost exertion and different high-growth stocks recently. When bonds are paying much successful interest, investors aren't arsenic consenting to hold arsenic agelong a clip for large nett maturation expectations to travel to fruition oregon to wage arsenic precocious prices for them.

Tech stocks successful the S&P 500 fared a small amended Friday, matching the broader marketplace with a 0.8% gain, portion the communication-services assemblage that includes galore net companies slipped 0.1%.

Stock markets overseas besides notched gains. In Europe, Germany's DAX returned 0.8%, and France's CAC 40 gained 0.6%. The FTSE 100 successful London roseate 0.4%.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 1.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.5% and Seoul's Kospi precocious 0.9%.

The terms of benchmark U.S. lipid roseate 1.2% to $82.28 per barrel, continuing a almighty tally that has sent it up much than 70% this twelvemonth and fanned worries astir precocious inflation. The planetary benchmark for crude climbed 1%, though the terms of U.S. earthy state fell 4.9%.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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