The US markets ended marginally higher on Friday amid traders continued to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week. Thursday's report showing initial jobless claims jumped to their highest level since October 2021 last week added to the optimism about the Fed pausing its interest rates hikes, as the central bank has warned about the impact of labor market tightness. Key inflation reports are also likely to be in the spotlight next week, as the data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates. Meanwhile, the uptick by the Nasdaq was partly due to a jump by shares of Telsa (TSLA), with the electronic vehicle maker surging by 4.1 percent to an eight-month closing high.
Tesla benefited from news General Motors (GM) announced a collaboration with the company to integrate the North American Charging Standard connector design into its electric vehicles beginning in 2025. On the sectoral front, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the relatively lackluster close by the broader markets. Tobacco stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index falling by 1.7 percent. Notable weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector came amid a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal. Natural gas and chemical stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while airline and software stocks moved to the upside.
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43.17 points or 0.13 percent to 33,876.78, Nasdaq added 20.62 points or 0.16 percent to 13,259.14 and S&P 500 was up by 4.93 points or 0.11 percent to 4,298.86.
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