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The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 800 points on Friday, buoyed by inflation data that helped the market rebound from the losses earlier this week. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which is regarded as the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, rose a modest 0.1% in November compared to the previous month.
On an annual basis, the PCE price index reflected a 2.4% inflation rate — slightly above the Fed’s long-term target of 2%, but notably below analysts’ consensus estimate of 2.5%. The cooler inflation data is expected to ease concerns about persistent price pressures, raising hopes that the Fed may reduce interest rates more than twice in 2025.
In the afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 796 points or 1.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500 jumped 1.8% each.
AI stocks back in action
AI stocks rebounded on Friday morning, emerging as the top-performing stocks. Nvidia (NVDA+2.88%), which experienced a sharp sell-off earlier in the week, climbed 2.3%, trading at $133 per share. Shares of Super Micro Computer (SMCI+4.54%) and Broadcom (AVGO+1.55%) were up 4.3% and 3.7%, respectively.
Bitcoin falls to the $96,000 level
Bitcoin sunk below $92,000 early Friday before recovering some ground on the heels of the Federal Reserve signaling a slowdown in interest rate cuts for 2025. The leading cryptocurrency was hovering around $96,000 on Friday morning, down about 7.7% over the past day. Bitcoin has slumped more than 10% since the start of the week when it hit highs of more than $106,000.
– Rocio Fabbro contributed to this article