Tech rises, but winning streak for stocks ends

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Friday, recovering a chunk of their losses from earlier in the week. Technology and industrial companies jumped.

Traders took a brighter view on the economy, and U.S. companies continued to report solid results for the fourth quarter. Energy and consumer-focused companies as well as basic materials makers all did better than the broader market. Those industries and stocks tend to benefit the most when economic growth improves.

Markets didn’t react much to news that President Donald Trump and congressional leaders reached a deal to reopen the federal government for three weeks while talks continue over Trump’s demands for money to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Trump announced the agreement to break the 35-day impasse as delays at airports and widespread disruptions brought new urgency to efforts to end the partial shutdown. Trump almost immediately threatened another shutdown or emergency action if he does not get a “fair deal.”

The S&P 500 surged 10 percent during the shutdown, which started when the stock market was at its low point in December. Some experts feel that the standoff won’t have a lasting effect on the market or the economy, with government employees resuming their spending as soon as they are repaid for their work in January.

But Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist for Invesco, said the magnitude of the shutdown might have major effects on consumers’ confidence.

“If the government can’t work together in times where there are no real crises, imagine what would happen in an environment where there was a real crisis,” she said. “It’s hard to envisage Congress and the executive branch putting their differences aside and working together.”

She added that the government’s dysfunction might contribute to the U.S.’ credit being downgraded, and if that happens, investors are likely to flee the stock market and pour money into the bond market. That’s what they did when the country’s credit rating was cut in 2011.

The S&P 500 index rose

22.43 points, or 0.8 percent to 2,664.76, but the index fell 0.2 percent for the week after big gains in the past four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added

183.96 points, or 0.7 percent, to 24,737.20.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 91.30 points, or 1.3 percent, to 7,164.86. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks increased 18.45 points, or

1.3 percent, to 1,482.85. Hard drive maker Western Digital vaulted 7.5 percent to $43.16 after the company said it expects business to improve in the second half of its fiscal year. That overshadowed a weaker-than-expected second quarter. Competitor Seagate Technology also gained 6.6 percent to

$43.66.