The Dow Jones Industrials vaulted 315.5 points to close Friday, the week and July at 32,845.13.
The S&P 500 sprang up 57.86 points, or 1.4%, to 4,130.29
The NASDAQ ballooned 228.10 points, or 1.9%, to 12,390.69.
For the week, the Dow ended higher by 3%, while the S&P 500 took on 4.3% and the NASDAQ gained 4.7%.
The Dow rose to a 6.7% gain for July. The S&P 500 added 9.1% for the month and the NASDAQ, while still in bear market territory, is up 12.4%. Those were the biggest monthly gains for all three indexes since November 2020.
That performance is a stark contrast from the previous six months when stocks tumbled to their June bear market levels. The market reversed as investors’ fears about the aggressive pacing of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases started to wane and the idea that inflation has perhaps peaked began to settle in.
On Friday investors also got the final reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which came in at 51.5 for July. That’s a slight improvement over the preliminary reading and up from the June all-time low of 50.
More than half of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, with 72% of those names beating expectations
Treasury prices slid once again, raising yields to 2.68%, from Thursday’s 2.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added $1.67 to $98.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $9.60 to $1,759.90 U.S. an ounce.