US stocks post weekly gains after better inflation data

(Angela Weiss / AFP)

NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks concluded a positive week on a winning note, rising Friday on improving investor sentiment following better US inflation data earlier in the week.

All three major indices finished firmly higher as markets rode the wave from consumer and producer price data that market optimists believe signal a meaningful cooling in inflation.

Cresset Asset Management’s Jack Ablin attributed the gains to a “sentiment shift” that he cautioned may be excessive given the limited evidence thus far.

“It’s just momentum and positivity that’s driving the market higher,” Ablin told AFP. “It seems like some of the bullish investors may be getting ahead of themselves.”

The broad-based S&P 500 ended at 4,280.15, up 1.7 percent for the day and more than three percent for the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.3 percent to 33,761.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.1 percent to 13,047.19.

In economic news, a survey from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment improved slightly in August from the prior months. However, nearly half of consumers surveyed blamed inflation for eroding their living standard.

Among individual companies, Peloton surged 13.6 percent following reports the home exercise company would eliminate about 800 jobs in a cost-cutting move.

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