After a slight slide on Thursday, the U.S. stocks bounced back on Friday, with benchmark S&P 500, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average all finishing the day in the green.
The S&P 500 added 63.97 points or 1.1% to close at 5,634.61. Among the best performers for the index, which is 1.4% up for the week, were millwork company Builders FirstSource, which saw its stock surge 8.75%, and stocks of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Carnival Corporation, which improved by 7.76% and 7.54% respectively.
Nasdaq grew by 1.5% or 258.44 points to close at 17,877.79 and finish the week up by 1.4%. Its biggest gainers were chipmaker Nvidia, with a 4.55% jump, and software provider Workday, which saw its stock rise by 12.49%.
Dow Jones closed at 41,175.08 on a 1.1% or 462.30 points gain on Friday. The index reached its one-month high and is nearing its previous all-time high close of 41,198.08 points. Among its best performers were Home Depot (2.80%), Goldman Sachs Group (2.34%), and Salesforce (2.09%).
The winning day for U.S. stocks was largely a result of optimism that the Federal Reserve will lower the interest rates at its upcoming meeting in September. Fed chair Jerome Powell stated on Friday that the “time has come for policy to adjust” during his Jackson Hole speech.