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S&P 500, Nasdaq post best weekly performances
U.S. stocks rose on Friday, September 13, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posting their strongest week of 2024 ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.
The broad market index rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.7%.
This comes after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained over the past four sessions, adding to their strong performance since the start of the week, which recorded their best weekly performances this year.
Utilities, materials and industrials led the market higher on Friday, with each sector rising more than 1%.
Investors also continued to accumulate large-cap technology and semiconductor stocks, helping to fuel the recovery this week after a recent weak performance in technology.
Shares of chip giants Super Micro Computer and ARM Holdings rose 3.5% and 6.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, Nvidia shares fell slightly. Alphabet rose 1.7% and Uber jumped more than 5%.
“Investors are bracing for more bouts of volatility, especially given the outlook surrounding the Fed meeting,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. She noted that based on historical patterns, stocks typically have their toughest performance of the year in the second half of September.
Wall Street now looks ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 17-18, when the Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points. The Fed’s benchmark rate is currently between 5.25% and 5.5%.
Economic data showing slowing inflation also seemed to support the case for a rate cut. The consumer price index in August was 2.5% year-on-year, the lowest since February 2021. Meanwhile, wholesale prices rose 0.2% in August, in line with expectations.
