U.S. stock indexes finished modestly higher on Friday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite spearheading gains, as investors digested inflation data and corporates’ fourth-quarter earnings reports ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. The S&P 500 advanced 10 points, or 0.3%, to end at 4,070, while clinching its highest closing level since Dec. 2, along with a third winning week in the last four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished nearly flat at 33,978, but booked a weekly gain of 1.8%. Nasdaq Composite jumped 1% and rallied 4.4% for the week, on pace to record its best first month of the year in over two decades. It has risen by more than 11% during the first four weeks of 2023, compared with a gain of more than 12% during the same period in 2000, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.