U.S. stocks edged higher for a second consecutive session Friday, putting major indexes on track to end a turbulent week roughly where they began.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, building on its 1.1% gain a day earlier to push the broad benchmark up 0.2% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 265 points, leaving it mostly flat over the past five trading days. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3% and is poised for a 1.1% weekly gain.
The recovery helped erase losses from a painful three-day selloff at the beginning of the week that was fueled by mounting concern that inflation will rise and remain elevated as the economy rebounds. Stocks have been enjoying a reversal though since Thursday’s jobless claims numbers, seen as a proxy for layoffs, fell to a new pandemic low, enticing investors to dip back into risky assets, including growth stocks and cryptocurrencies.
“There was some relief that the labor market recovery is under way in the U.S. and we’re seeing some nervousness about inflation ebbing away,” said Kiran Ganesh, a multiasset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Money managers are betting that some sectors—such as banking and energy—could benefit in particular as the economy rebounds to pre-pandemic levels.