How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 8/23/2024

U.S. stocks rallied closer to their records after the head of the Federal Reserve finally said out loud what Wall Street has been expecting for a while: Cuts to interest rates are coming soon to help the economy.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% Friday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the time has come to lower its main interest rate from a two-decade high. The index is back within 0.6% of its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite added 1.5%. Treasury yields fell in the bond market.

On Friday:

The S&P 500 rose 63.97 points, or 1.1%, to 5,634.61.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 462.30 points, or 1.1% to 41,175.08.

The Nasdaq composite rose 258.44 points, or 1.5%, to 17,877.79.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 68.67 points, or 3.2%, to 2,218.70.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 80.36 points, or 1.4%.

The Dow is up 515.32 points, or 1.3%.

The Nasdaq is up 246.07 points, or 1.4%.

The Russell 2000 is up 76.78 points, or 3.6%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 864.78 points, or 18.1%.

The Dow is up 3,485.54 points, or 9.2%.

The Nasdaq is up 2,866.44 points, or 19.1%.

The Russell 2000 is up 191.63 points, or 9.5%.