Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 14, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting a fresh record high as investors ended a volatile month on a high note. Traders also mulled over crucial inflation data watched closely by the Federal Reserve.
The 30-stock Dow jumped 228.03 points, or 0.55%, to close at 41,563.08. The blue-chip index touched a fresh all-time high in the final minutes of the trading session and closed at another record.
The S&P 500 advanced 1.01%, closing at 5,648.40, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.13% to end at 17,713.62.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in July and 2.5% from a year ago. The result was in line with estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, it also rose 0.2% from the prior month.
The Fed keeps a close eye on this metric, and it could still influence policymakers’ rate decision in September.
“The equity markets are very much behaving as if everything is sanguine,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management, speaking on Friday’s market action. “There’s more evidence for the soft landing, and there’s less evidence that the Fed is going to cut aggressively.”
At the end of August’s trading, the S&P 500 posted a 2.3% gain for the month, while the Dow climbed nearly 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite clinched a 0.7% advance for the period. The S&P 500 notched its fourth straight winning month. A surge in consumer staples, real estate and health care helped lift the broad market index in August.
The major averages suffered a steep sell-off at the start of the month, with the S&P 500 losing as much as 7.3% before recovering. The Dow and Nasdaq were down as much as 5.4% and 10.7%, respectively, at their lows this month.
