Stocks closed flat on Friday after the S&P 500 briefly fell into a bear market, or 20% below its record high reached on January 3. The benchmark finished 0.01% higher after falling as much as 2.3% earlier in the session. At the day's lows, the S&P 500 was 20.9% below its intraday high in January. The index now rests about 19% below its closing high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also closed flat, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% lower.
For the week, the Dow was 2.9% lower, marking its first eight-week losing streak since 1923. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost 3% and 3.8%, respectively, for the week, both posting seven-week losing streaks.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.01% or +0.57 points to 3,901.36
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.03% or +8.77 points to 31,261.90
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.30% or -33.88 points to 11,354.62
JPMorgan forecasts "cruel summer", gas prices averaging $6.20 per gallon:
JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) commodities analyst Natasha Kaneva predicts raising gas prices will lead to a "cruel summer" as summer travel spurs more demand for energy that is already in tight supply.
"With expectations of strong driving demand--traditionally, the U.S. summer driving season starts on Memorial Day, which lands this year on May 30, and lasts until Labor Day in early September--U.S. retail price could surge another 37% by August to a $6.20/gallon national average," Kaneva wrote in a research note.
That predicted price would represent an over 30% increase form the current national average of $4.59 per gallon, according to AAA, which is already a record high.
Moreover, the U.S. is projected to produce about 9.1 million barrels of gasoline per day this summer, but demand is expected to reach 9.7 million barrels per day by August, Kaneva notes, meaning higher prices to outset lower supply.
Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.90% or +35.28 points to 3,936.07
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.66% or +205.35 points to 31,458.48
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.05% or +119.72 points to 11,508.21