Stocks finished higher on Wall Street Friday as investors closed out the best month for the S&P 500 since November 2020.
The S&P 500 was up 1.3% as of 2:18 p.m. Eastern, while the Nasdaq was up 1.6%. Both indexes are on pace to end July with the biggest gains since November 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8%. Weak economic data, including a report Thursday showing that the U.S. economy contracted last quarter and could be in a recession, have also spurred stocks higher by giving some investors confidence that the Federal Reserve will be able to dial back its aggressive pace of rate hikes sooner than expected.
The figures underscored the persistence of the inflation that is eroding Americans' purchasing power, dimming their confidence in the economy and threatening Democrats in Congress in the run-up to the November midterm elections."This inflation metric is for June and we know much has changed since then, especially gas prices, so investors should put this inflation report into historical context," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial.