How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 1/19/2024

Wall Street returned to record heights and capped a punishing, two-year round trip dogged by high inflation and worries about a possible recession.

The S&P 500 rallied 1.2% to surpass its prior all-time high set at the start of 2022. It had dropped as much as 25% from that record on worries about much higher interest rates. But inflation has since cooled, the economy has remained out of a recession and the expectation is now for rates to ease.

Tech stocks again helped lead the market, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.7%. The Dow, which set its own record last month, rose 1.1%.

On Friday:

The S&P 500 rose 58.87 points, or 1.2%, to 4,839.81.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 395.19 points, or 1.1%, to 37,863.80.

The Nasdaq composite rose 255.32 points, or 1.7%, to 15,310.97.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 20.74 points, or 1.1%, to 1,944.39.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 55.98 points, or 1.2%.

The Dow is up 270.82 points, or 0.7%.

The Nasdaq is up 338.21 points, or 2.3%.

The Russell 2000 is down 6.57 points, or 0.3%.

For the year :

The S&P 500 is up 69.98 points, or 1.5%.

The Dow is up 174.26 points, or 0.5%.

The Nasdaq is up 299.62 points, or 2%.

The Russell 2000 is down 82.68 points, or 4.1%.