The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74.22 points (0.43 per cent) to 17,215.97 on Friday.
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Pharmaceutical stocks were another strong category, with Dow member Pfizer climbing 3.2 per cent, Biogen 4.5 per cent and Celgene 3.4 per cent. But Valeant Pharmaceuticals global plunged 4.8 per cent on news it had been subpoenaed by USA prosecutors for information about its drug pricing decisions.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 9.25 (0.46 percent) to 2,033.11, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 16.59 (0.34 percent) to 4,886.69.
On Wednesday, US stocks ended lower after wavering between gains and losses, as Wall Street digested the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book amid lackluster economic reports. The Shanghai Composite Index had its best week in four months on optimism China will accelerate reforms of state-owned companies.
The US Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers decreased 0.2 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with market consensus, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
“It is doubtful the market tried to factor in the possibility of the Fed raising rates this year on the inflation number, but the Fed is “data dependent” so it reacts positively to upbeat data”, said Shinichiro Kadota, chief Japan forex strategist at Barclays in Tokyo.
A few analysts suggested the rally over the past three weeks was due to expectations that the Federal Reserve will refrain from hiking interest rates in the near future due to weakness in global growth and recent market turbulence.
Investors remained cautious ahead of China’s latest economic growth data scheduled to be released on Monday.
“While it may look like core inflation is moving towards that desired 2.0-percent mark with this report, the mix is not necessarily what the Fed expected”, said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, an economic analyst at FTN Financial.
Brazil’s stocks led world losses this week, missing out on a rally in emerging markets, as Goldman Sachs Group predicted Latin America’s largest economy will face more challenges. With 10 per cent of S&P 500 companies having reported quarterly earnings, 78 per cent have beaten or met expectations, according to Thomson Starmine data. The dollar rose 0.2 per cent to buy 119.08 yen after pulling away from a 7-week trough of 118.065 struck overnight, but was still poised to lose 1 per cent this week.
Spot gold slipped 0.6 percent to $1,176.60 an ounce, after jumping to $1,190.63 in the previous session, but was still headed for a weekly rise of 1.6 percent.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) paced the six laggards, dropping 1.6% as industrial stocks tanked.
The Dow is down 607.10 points, or 3.4 per cent.
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By the close, November-dated crude was up 88 cents, or 1.9%, at $47.26 per barrel.
