Stocks traded higher on Friday, extending Thursday's gains, as market participants continued to remain positive towards additional coronavirus stimulus, even though Washington officials continue to send mixed signals about the scope of the relief. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each posted their best weekly gains in months, rising 3.7% and 4.6%, respectively. Shares of Microsoft (MSFT  ) and Salesforce (CRM  ) pushed the Dow higher, with the benchmark ending the week up 3.3%.

On the stimulus front, multiple news outlet have reported that the White House intends to offer a new stimulus proposal that will total $1.8 trillion, which is $400 billion below the bill passed by the House of Representatives last week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have also restart stimulus negotiations, but the passage of a new package may not happen before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3.

Here's how the market closed for the week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.88% or +30.30 points to 3,477.13

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.57% or +161.39 points to 28,586.90

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +1.39% or +158.96 points to 11,579.94

For Major Stock News, airline stocks--American (AAL  ), Delta (DAL  ), Southwest (LUV  ) and United (UAL  )--all modestly gained as stimulus talks reignited. Cruise line stocks--Carnival (CCL  ), Norwegian (NCLH  ) and Royal Caribbean (RCL  )--rose after the White House announced that Vice President Mike Pence will meet with the leaders of the industry, hinting as additional relief coming to the sector. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD  ) and Xilinx (XLNX  ) moved in opposite directions after The Wall Street Journal reported that AMD was in advanced talks to buy the rival chipmaker.

For Sector Performance, most industries gained throughout Friday's session, with only Energy -1.62%, Real Estate -0.30% and Utilities -0.04% lagging behind. The positive performance gains were as follows: Information Technology +1.54%, Consumer Discretionary +1.50%, Health Care +0.88%, Consumer Staples +0.77%, Communication Services +0.77%, Materials +0.73%, Industrials +0.40% and Financials +0.07%.

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) dropped to its lowest level in nearly three weeks as investor expectations for a Democratic wave resulting from the U.S. presidential election pressured the greenback. Several Wall Street banks have predicted that a stimulus package will happen no matter which candidate wins, but a Biden victory could result in a larger package, according to Reuters. The dollar index lowered 0.3% against other global currencies on Friday. Conversely, Gold (GLD  ) increased over the key $1,900 level on Friday as market participants used the yellow metal to hedge against potential inflation from additional stimulus. Spot gold gained 1% to $1,912.22 per ounce, while gold futures rose 1.2% to $1,917.90 per ounce. Crude oil futures slipped on Friday as Norway's oil strikes ended, even though U.S. Gulf Coast production was halted due to Hurricane Delta. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO  ) fell 1.13% to $42.85 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) declined to 1.4% to $40.60 each.

For the week ahead, earnings from big banks like JPMorgan (JPM  ) and Bank of America (BAC  ) may bring more positive momentum to a market that has become stagnant from cloudy outlooks toward additional stimulus and the Nov.3 election.