By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The S&P 500 notched a second-weekly win Friday as late-buying in tech propelled the broader market into the green, shrugging off fresh worries about an oil-fueled rise inflation.
The S&P 500 rose 0.49%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.44%, or 153 points. and the Nasdaq slipped 0.16%.
Investors left in a late chance to buy the dip in tech, helping the sector end well off its session lows despite a surge in Treasury yields on expectations for the Federal Reserve to move more aggressively on rate hikes to stem inflation.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) found support to end in the green, while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the exception closing below the flatline, though well off session lows.
U.S. Treasury yields continued to climb, with the 10-year yield briefly topping 2.5% for the first time in nearly three years as Wall Street raises bets on steeper Fed rate hikes at upcoming meetings.
“We now look for the Fed to raise rates by 50bp at both its May and June meetings, with 25bp rate hikes penciled in for each meeting over the balance of the year,” {{|Morgan Stanley said in a note}}.
A turnaround in oil prices added to inflation jitters following reports that Iran-backed Houthi missile hit an Aramco (SE:2222) oil facility in Saudi Arabia.
The news stoked further worries about supply shortages and offset earlier optimism after the EU failed to reach consensus on joining the U.S. in banning imports of Russian oil.
In the wake of red-hot inflation, the consumer, the backbone of the U.S. economy, continues to grow wary, with many keeping a closer eye on whether spending is likely to be reined in.
The University of Michigan’s sentiment index showed U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated further in late March, falling to a reading of 59.4 from 59.7 earlier in the month.
Banking stocks, which benefit from a rising rate environment boosting returns on the loan products, were up sharply. Comerica (NYSE:CMA), Zions (NASDAQ:ZION), and Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) led the gains.
Other cyclical corners of the market also played a role in pushing up the broader market, with industrials underpinned by an Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK)-led move higher in airline stocks.
Alaska Air Group rose more than 1% after Bank of America backed the airline’s financial outlook, saying it was confident the low-cost airline can top the prior high single digit pre-tax margin expectation and reach its new long term target of 11% to 13%. Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) also ended the day up more than 1%.
In other news, cannabis stocks surged, led by Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) and Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) as the House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill to federally legalize marijuana next week. A version of the bill previously passed the House in December 2020, but failed to advance in the Senate.