S&P 500 ends flat but posts biggest weekly gain of year

NEW YORK — The S&P 500 ended little changed on Friday, but the index registered its biggest weekly percentage gain of 2024 after the US Federal Reserve this week stuck with projections for three interest rate cuts by year’s end.

The Nasdaq ended slightly higher for the day, along with an index of semiconductors. The semiconductor index was also up sharply for the week amid continued optimism over artificial intelligence. The Dow ended lower on the day.

On Friday, consumer discretionary shares edged lower.

Shares of Nike 6.9%, a day after the world’s largest sportswear maker warned that revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 would shrink by a lowsingle-digit percentage.

Earlier in the week, the Fed left rates unchanged but signaled it was still on track for three rate cuts this year.

“The market took that as saying the Fed isn’t your enemy any more, and eventually it is going to be your friend,” said Matt Stucky, chief equity portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company.

Traders now see about a 71% chance of the first rate cut hitting in June versus 56% at the start of this week, according to the CME’s FedWatch Tool.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 305.47 points or 0.77% to 39,475.90; the S&P 500 lost 7.35 points or 0.14% to 5,234.18; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 26.98 points or 0.16% to 16,428.82.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 2.3% in its biggest weekly percentage advance since mid-December. The Dow climbed 2%, also its biggest weekly gain since mid-December, while the Nasdaq rose 2.9%, its biggest weekly percentage jump since mid-January.

Among the day’s gainers, FedEx jumped 7.4%, a day after the company beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit.

On the flip side, Digital World Acquisition fell 13.7% after shareholders of the blank-check firm voted to approve its merger with former US President Donald Trump’s media and technology company.

Volume on US exchanges was 9.45 billion shares, compared with the 12.34 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.