U.S. stock markets closed higher on Friday to finish a fascinating week as recessions fears evaporate. Wall Street has completely recouped what ever ground it lost during meltdown in the first week of this month. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory. For the week also, these indexes finished in green.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.2% to close at 40,659.76. In intraday trading, the blue-chip index was up 163 points. Notably, 22 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory while 8 in negative zone. 

The major gainer of the blue-chip index was The Boeing Co. (BA Quick QuoteBA - Free Report) . The stock price of this struggling aerospace behemoth advanced more than 2%. Boeing currently carries a Zacks Ran#3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 17,631.72, gaining 0.2% due to strong performance by technology giants. The S&P 500 increased 0.2% to finish at 5,554.25. Eight out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory, while three in negative zone. The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) gained 0.7%, 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. 

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 2.8% to 14.80. A total of 10.11 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 12.27 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.22-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.53-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

Recession Fears Evaporates

In last couple of weeks Wall Street witnessed several strong economic data. Solid services sector PMI for July, an unexpected rise in retail and core retail sales in July, two consecutive lower-than-expected weekly jobless claims and several measures of dwindling inflation rate boosted market participants’ confidence on the Fed’s much-hyped “soft landing” theory.

Economic Data

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced that housing starts in July decreased to 1,238 million units, missing the consensus estimate of 1.358 million units. The metric for June was revised downward to 1.329 million units from 1.353 million units reported earlier. Year over year, housing starts tumbled 16% in July.

Building permits in July came in at 1.396 million units, lagging the consensus estimate of 1.425 million units. The metric for June was revised upward to 1.454 million units from 1.446 million units reported earlier. Year over year, building permits tanked 7% in July.

The University of Michigan reported that the preliminary index for consumer sentiment in August came in at 67.8%, well above the consensus estimate of 66.6%. The final reading of this metric for July was 66.4%. 

The sub index for current conditions came in at 60.9% in August compared with 62.7% in July. The expectations sub index came in at 72.1% in August compared with 68.8% in July. Expectations for inflation rate next year remained same at 2.9% while the expectations for inflation rate over next five years remained static at 3%.

Weekly Roundup

Last week was a fabulous one for Wall Street. The three major stock indexes – the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite – rallied 2.9%, 3.9% and 5.2%, respectively. The S&P 500 recorded its best week since November 2023. Recently released several strong economic data and dwindling inflation rate helped restored investors’ faith on risky assets like equities.