Stocks end higher Friday, but Dow books worst 7 weeks of declines in two years

U.S. stocks finished higher Friday, but with the Dow still ending a seventh week in a row lower, as investors worried about the Federal Reserve’s ability to tamp down high inflation without kicking the economy into a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 465 points Friday, or 1.5%, ending near 32,196. The S&P 500 index gained 2.4%, after coming close to entering a bear-market territory on Thursday, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 3.8%. The bounce heading into the weekend still wasn’t enough to erase sharp earlier losses. The Dow ended the week 2.1% lower for a seventh week in a row, tallying its sharpest 7-week percentage point plunge since April 24, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 lost 2.4% for the week and the Nasdaq shed 2.8% since Monday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.