US stocks end bumpy week up sharply; oil prices drop three percent
![US stocks end bumpy week up sharply; oil prices drop three percent](https://92newshd.tv/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/us-stock.jpg)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - US stocks ended with a more than 1 percent gain on Friday after another session of whipsaw trading, though the Dow and S&P 500 posted their biggest weekly losses since January 2016.
Even with Friday’s gains, all three major US indexes were down more than 5 percent for the week, and investors said the sharp swings that marked the week’s trading were likely to continue.
“I don’t see any reason to think that we’re setting a pattern for next week or the rest of the year. The only pattern we’re setting is more volatility,” said Rob Stein, chief executive officer of Astor Investment Management in Chicago.
The Dow had a more than 1,000-point difference between its high and low. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index, also known as the VIX .VIX, ended lower on the day but it remained well above its recent trading range.
Benchmark 10-year note yields closed a volatile week little changed as stocks gained and investors were likely wary of holding positions over the weekend. Oil prices fell more than 3 percent.
Concerns about higher bond yields and interest rates spurred recent selling of equities, disrupting an extended advance in stocks, though the retreat in the US market had been long awaited by investors.
Higher yields tend to hurt equities because they increase borrowing costs for companies and ultimately consumers. They also present an alternative to investors who may reallocate some funds to bonds from equities.
On Thursday, the Dow and S&P 500 indexes slumped more than 10 percent from their Jan. 26 record highs, confirming they were in correction territory.
Stocks on Friday began to bounce after the S&P 500 briefly broke below its 200-day moving average, a level seen as technical support.
“You will often see bounces off those levels. In fundamentals, I did not see any news around that time when the market started turning around,” said Anwiti Bahuguna, senior portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments in Boston.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 330.44 points, or 1.38 percent, to 24,190.9, the S&P 500 gained 38.55 points, or 1.49 percent, to 2,619.55 and the Nasdaq Composite added 97.33 points, or 1.44 percent, to 6,874.49.
Next week, coming off one of the most volatile stretches in years, two important readings on US inflation could help determine whether the stock market begins to settle or if another bout of volatility is in store.