Stocks ended higher at the end of a choppy session on Friday as Wall Street worked to regain its footing after major averages posted their worst start to the year in decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied over 300 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 1% and 0.9%, respectively.

Despite the session gains, all of the major averages posted their fourth negative week in five, with the Dow down 1.3%, the S&P 500 falling 6.7%, and the Nasdaq finishing lower by 4.1%.

Friday's moves followed fresh economic data that showed further softening of growth in the manufacturing sector. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) index of U.S. factory activity fell to 53.0 in June, marking the lowest reading sinc in two years and decelerating from May's print of 56.1. Meanwhile, the S&P Global's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 52.1 last month from May's 54.6, its lowest level since August 2020.

The reports came after new data this week showed inflationary pressures still remained elevated, pushing consumer to spend less in response to higher prices on essentials like food and gas. Consumer spending makes up nearly 70% of the nation's overall GDP.

Wall Street is entering July and the second half of the year with most market participants concerned over the health of the U.S. economy in the wake of persistently high inflation and the Federal Reserve's hawkish efforts to bring price stability, even at the risk of sparking a recession. The S&P 500 ended the first half of the year down more than 20%, marking its worst start since 1970. Meanwhile, the Dow fell over 15% to mark its worst first half since 1962 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped over 29% to post its worst first half on record.

Here's how the market settled to close out the week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +1.06% or +39.98 points to 3,825.36

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +1.05% or +322.03 points to 31,097.46

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.90% or +99.11 points to 11,127.85

Kohl's ends sale talks, plans to operate on its own:

Kohl's (KSS  ) announced Friday it has ended talks with Franchise Group (FRG  ) for a potential sale of its business, and is now, instead, looking to sell some of its real estate as it plans to continue to operate as a standalone public company.

"Despite a concerted effort on both sides, the current financing and retail environment created significant obstacles to reaching an acceptable and fully executable agreement. Given the environment and market volatility, the Board determined that it simply was not prudent to continue pursuing a deal," said Peter Boneparth, chair of the board, in a press statement. "Kohl's is a financially strong Company that generates substantial free cash flow and has a clear plan to enhance its competitive position and improve performance over the long term."

The company's board noted on Friday that it is currently reevaluating wats that the retailer can monetize its brick-and-mortar real estate.