US stocks rally and notch weekly gains as inflation continues to cool

• US stocks closed higher Friday after reversing early-session losses.
• Easing inflation data added to investor optimism that the Federal Reserve could slow rate hikes.

US stocks regained ground at the close on Friday to finish the day and week in positive territory, as investors digested easing inflation data.

The personal consumption expenditures index was up 5% year over year in December. The core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased by 4.4%, down from November's annual pace of 4.7% and marking the slowest pace since October 2021.

In addition to the encouraging inflation data, consumer spending weakened, giving investors hope that the central bank could further slow down its pace of benchmark interest rate hikes at its policy meeting next week.

Major indices also notched strong weekly gains. The Dow and the S&P 500 gained more than 2%, and the Nasdaq jumped more than 4%.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,070.56, up 0.25%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,978.08, up 0.08% (28.67 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,621.71, up 0.95%

Here's what else happened today:

• Tesla stock options traders are even more bullish than CEO Elon Musk and see shares climbing nearly 400%.
• Lumber prices soared 13% on Friday as the housing market finally showed some signs of life.
• SkyBridge Capital lost nearly 40% last year on losses from FTX and crypto bets.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 2.06% to $79.34 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, lost 1.36% to $86.28.
• Gold added 0.05% to $1,925.95 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury gained 2.5 basis points to 3.516%.
• Bitcoin climbed 1.01% to $23,407.54.