USA stocks bucked a global market slump Thursday as investors look ahead to a crucial Federal Reserve meeting next week on interest rates.
The S&P 500 gained 2.1% to 1,961.05, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.1% to 16,433.09.
US stocks closed higher Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing up 100 points in the last half-hour of trading after fluctuating for most of the day.
The Nasdaq composite climbed 39.72 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,796.25.
Dow member General Electric dipped 0.4 percent after announcing it would sell the transportation finance unit of GE Capital to Canada’s BMO Financial Group for an undisclosed amount.
Top officials from the U.S. central bank have said they plan to lift United States benchmark interest rates from near-zero levels some time in 2015.
Equity funds, seen by investors as a risky bet, suffered large outflows of about $19 billion in the week to September 9, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “We are seeing a quite striking price action”, said Matthew Cobon, head of interest rates and currencies at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, which oversees around GBP320 billion in assets ($492 billion). The central bank considers employment and inflation data, among other reports, as it makes interest-rate decisions. “They are clearly focused on the recent destabilizing moves by China to shift their currency regime and manage their stock market’s weakness”, he said.
Some analysts said the rate cut made the dinar more volatile to external pressures, potentially leading to a significant depreciation in the case of a United States rate hike. “Let’s just get it over with”.
USA markets have been choppy since the Monday holiday, with strong gains Tuesday followed by stiff falls Wednesday that pushed the S&P 500 down 1.4 percent. Inventories of durable goods advanced 0.1% but inventories of nondurable goods such as groceries and clothing fell 0.5%.
Brent crude oil rose 0.4% to $47.76 per barrel, ahead of the release of key USA supply data, while gold was up 0.9% at $1112.20 an ounce.