Stocks jumped higher in afternoon trade Friday to cap off a choppy session on a high note as investors continued to digest more hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 200 points and the S&P 500 climbed 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite settled at a positive flatline.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.48% or +18.78 points to 3,965.34
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.59% or +199.37 points to 33,745.69
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.01% or +1.11 points to 11,146.06
Despite the rally, all major averages ended the week lower. The Dow closed at a negative flatline, while the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq ended 1.6% lower for the week.
Driving market moves throughout the session, investors weighed statements from multiple Fed officials on Thursday that pushed back against speculation that the central bank may pull back its monetary tightening in response to easing inflation.
While consumer and producer price data for October showed some signs of moderation, inflation is still persistently rising despite aggressive rate hikes from the central bank. Moreover, Wednesday's retail sales report for October also showed that consumers are still spending amid decades-high inflationary pressures, which may signal to the Fed that more action needs to be taken to stabilize prices.
To close out a busy week for the retail sector, Gap (NYSE: GPS), Ross Stores, and Williams-Sonoma reported quarterly earnings on Friday.
Gap posted earnings that topped Wall Street estimates, sending shares nearly 8% higher on the day. However, the retailer echoed warnings made earlier in the week by Target (NYSE: TGT), with Chief Financial Officer Katrina O'Connell stating that the macroeconomic environment remains challenging, but Gap plans to take a "prudent approach in light of the uncertain consumer."
Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST) also reported strong earnings, and the retail chain listed its fourth quarter guidance on positive sales momentum and improved inventory for the holidays. Meanwhile, home furnishing giant Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) pulled its guidance through 2024 due to macroeconomic uncertainties.
Elsewhere in economic news, sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell 5.9% from September to October, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, marking a ninth straight month of decline. October's reading brought sales to a seasonally adjusted, annualized pace of 4.43 million units.
On the cryptocurrency front, analysts at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) downgraded Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) on Friday due to the impact of FTX's collapse last week.
"We think Coinbase likely faces a number of new headwinds over the near/medium-term due to the recent collapse of rival crypto exchange FTX," analysts led by Jason Kupferberg wrote in a note to clients.
"As a result, we downgrade COIN to Neutral from Buy and reduce our estimates. We feel confident that COIN is not 'another FTX' (only $15M of deposits on FTX platform per a Coinbase blog post and $5B of cash on hand as of 9/30), but that does not make them immune from the broader fallout within the crypto ecosystem," they added.