Stocks finish higher with help from tech

Stocks marched solidly higher again Friday, though the major indexes still ended with their worst weekly loss since February after a sharp pullback earlier in the week.

The S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent, its second straight gain. The gains were broad, though technology sector stocks powered much of the rally. Retailers, banks, communication companies and industrial stocks also helped lift the market. Energy stocks also rose as the price of U.S. crude oil climbed 2.4 percent. Treasury yields mostly fell.

Investors’ worries about the possibility of rising inflation as the U.S. economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic fueled three days of heavy selling to start the week, and the major stock indexes were not able to make up all of those losses the last two days.

The S&P 500 lost 1.4 percent for the week, its first weekly decline in three weeks. The Nasdaq marked its fourth weekly pullback in a row, giving up 2.3 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1 percent for the week.

The market’s rally the last two days reflects a mix of traders piling back into the market, which hit alltime highs just last week, to take advantage of lower stock prices, and a boost in confidence after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision Thursday to ease maskwearing guidance for fully vaccinated people. The move is expected to encourage more Americans to go out and spend money, speeding up the reopening of the economy.

“It’s just jittery markets,” said Chris Gaffney, president of TIAA Bank World Markets. “We’re going to continue to see this pushpull between good growth and reopening and inflation worries, that’s what’s causing this volatility.”

The S&P 500 gained 61.35 points to 4,173.85. The Dow rose 360.68 points, or 1.1 percent, to 34,382.13. The Nasdaq, where the losses this week have been steepest, added 304.99 points, or 2.3 percent, to 13,429.98.

Investors have been questioning whether rising inflation will be something temporary, as the Federal Reserve has said, or something more durable that the Fed will have to address. The central bank has kept interest rates low to aid the recovery, but concerns are growing that it will have to shift its position if inflation starts running too hot.

“There’s certainly a lot to be happy about in the reopening and earnings pictures, but at the same time there’s a lot to be worried about if inflation, if these price increases remain and it forces the Fed to act quicker than they want to,” Gaffney said. “That could put a quick halt to the (stock market) rally.”