By Lewis Krauskopf, Amruta Khandekar and Shristi Achar A
(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rallied on Friday, boosted by heavyweight tech and growth stocks as Treasury yields calmed, while investors looked ahead to a next week’s important reports on inflation and other economic data.
Equities bounced back from sharp declines the previous session which followed hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell about interest rates. Thursday’s decline ended the longest winning streaks in two years for the and the .
Investors have been focused on benchmark Treasury yields, which have eased somewhat from 16-year highs, and the path of monetary policy as they assess whether the Fed might be done raising rates to control inflation and when the central bank could start cutting rates.
Next week the consumer price index report will be key, along with data on producer prices and retail sales, which will further shape interest rate projections.
“In general, the expectation investors have is that the upcoming inflation data is going to be positive for the market and I think they want to get in front of it a little bit,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.
The rose 309.19 points, or 0.91%, to 34,201.13, the S&P 500 gained 57.82 points, or 1.33%, to 4,405.07 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 247.30 points, or 1.83%, to 13,768.75.
The S&P 500 touched its highest level since Sept 20.
All 11 S&P 500 sectors were in positive territory, with technology leading the way, up 2.2%. Megacap stocks that have led the market higher this year, were also gaining on Friday, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:) up 2.6% and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) rising 2.2%.
“People are looking at megacap tech and saying in an environment of higher rates and a slowing economy, these companies remain the best place to be and are willing to pay a premium for them,” Meckler said.
Helping supporting equities, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 4.63% after a jump on Thursday which was also driven by a weaker-than-expected 30-year bond auction.
Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer sentiment fell for a fourth straight month in November, and households’ expectations for inflation rose again.
In company news, Illumina (NASDAQ:) shares dropped 11% as the genetic testing company trimmed its full-year profit forecast for the second straight quarter.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.5-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 47 new highs and 135 new lows on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.5-to-1 ratio, while the Nasdaq recorded 49 new highs and 318 new lows.
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