U.S. stocks climbed on Friday as major averages headed for a winning week amid growing optimism over the U.S. economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 150 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.4%.
The S&P 500 is up more than 1% week to date and sits less than 1% from a record. The blue-chip Dow is also more than 1% higher over the same time period, while the Nasdaq has gained 2.3%.
Salesforce shares popped nearly 7% after the software company’s first-quarter earnings beat Wall Street expectations on its top and bottom lines. HP shares dropped 5% despite the company’s better-than-expected second-quarter results.
Ford was higher once again, up 1% Friday. The stock has rallied 12% this week so far after unveiling a new electric vehicle strategy.
A key inflation indicator — the core personal consumption expenditures index — rose 3.1% in April, faster than expectations of a 2.9% increase but not as hot as many on Wall Street had feared. Meanwhile, the savings rate remained elevated at 14.9% last month, while consumer spending rose 0.5%, in line with estimates.
Meme stocks fueled by traders in Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum surged again on Friday with AMC shooting up over 30%.
The moves higher this week come as investors monitor the back-and-forth in Washington over a comprehensive infrastructure package that could further boost the economic recovery. Senate Republicans unveiled a $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden on Thursday. However, that’s well below Biden’s most recent proposal of $1.7 trillion.
For the month of May, the S&P 500 is slightly higher, while the Dow is up 2%. The Nasdaq is off by about 1.3%.
