Stocks rose higher at the end of a choppy session on Friday, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted a weekly loss as recession fears continued to impact year-end sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 170 points, while the S&P and Nasdaq rose 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Traders turned their attention to the Bureau of Economic Analysis' November personal consumption expenditure (PCE) report -- the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge -- Friday morning for signs of the Fed's next moves into the new year.
Last month's PCE rose at an annual rate of 5.5% and 0.1% over the previous month, matching Wall Street expectations and moderating from October's readings of 6.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
Core PCE, which excludes more volatile food and energy prices, rose 4.7% year-over-year and 0.2% month-to-month, only coming in slightly hotter-than-expected for the annual clip. That signaled to market participants that the central bank may need to do more to combat persistently high inflation that is not responding to its series of hawkish moves delivered throughout the year.
Meanwhile, consumer sentiment improved in December, according to the University of Michigan's final print for the month. The institution's sentiment index rose to 59.7 from 56.8 in November and 59.1 from December's preliminary reading, topping Wall Street expectations.
"Declines in short-run inflation expectations were visible across the distribution of age, income, education, as well as political party identification," said Joanne Hsu, director of Surveys of Consumers, in a statement. "While the sizable decline in short-run inflation expectations may be welcome news, consumers continued to exhibit substantial uncertainty over the future path of prices."
In other economic news, new home sales rose in November, topping expectations even as prices remained elevated and buyers were met with high mortgage rates. Sales of newly constructed U.S. homes rose 5.8% in November from October, to a seasonally adjusted rose of 640,000, according to the Census Bureau. However, annual sales dropped 15.3% from last year's rate of 756,000.
Friday closed out a down week for most of Wall Street, with the S&P 500 losing about 0.2% to post its their straight weekly decline. The Nasdaq lost 2% for the week, also marking its third weekly loss in a rose. The Dow is the only major average leaving the week in the green, rising 0.9%.
The U.S. stock and bonds market will be closed on Monday, December 26, in observance of Christmas Day.
