How major US stock indexes fared Friday 3/31/2023

Stocks rallied on Wall Street and closed out a winning March despite a long list of worries for investors.

The S&P 500 gained 1.4% Friday and rose 3.5% for the month, with tech stocks leading the way. The index also notched its second winning quarter in a row after tumbling through most of last year on worries about high interest rates.

Friday’s gains came after a report showed inflation slowed in February, though it was still high on a historical basis. A slowdown in inflation could give the Federal Reserve more leeway to take it easier on interest rates.

On Friday:

The S&P 500 rose 58.48 points, or 1.4%, to 4,109.31.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 415.12 points, or 1.3%, to 33,274.15.

The Nasdaq composite rose 208.44 points, or 1.7% to 12,221.91.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 34.10 points, or 1.9%, to 1,802.48.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 138.32 points, or 3.5%.

The Dow is up 1,036.62 points, or 3.2%.

The Nasdaq is up 397.95 points, or 3.4%.

The Russell 2000 is up 67.56 points, or 3.9%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 269.81 points, or 7%.

The Dow is up 126.90 points, or 0.4%.

The Nasdaq is up 1,755.42 points, or 16.8%.

The Russell 2000 is up 41.24 points, or 2.3%.