NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, as the S&P 500 closed out its fourth straight winning month with solid gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 228.03 points, or 0.55 percent, to 41,563.08. The S&P 500 added 56.44 points, or 1.01 percent, to 5,648.4. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 197.19 points, or 1.13 percent, to 17,713.62.
All of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer discretionary and industrials leading the gainers by adding 1.92 percent and 1.11 percent, respectively. Energy posted the weakest growth, up by 0.27 percent.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, increased by 0.2 percent in July on a monthly basis and 2.5 percent year over year. These results matched economists' expectations, according to a Dow Jones poll. Excluding food and energy, the index saw a 0.2 percent rise from the previous month.
"Weakening inflation gives the Fed plenty of room to begin cutting rates, while still resilient household spending is the recipe for a soft landing," said David Alcaly, a lead macroeconomic strategist at Lazard Asset Management.
The U.S. Commerce Department's report on Friday also revealed that Americans increased their spending by a robust 0.5 percent from June to July, up from a 0.3 percent rise in the previous month. Additionally, incomes grew by 0.3 percent in July, marking a faster pace than in June.
With just seven S&P 500 companies left to report, the second-quarter earnings season is nearing its end.
Nvidia's results on Wednesday pushed the S&P 500 to a 13 percent earnings growth rate for the quarter, according to financial data firm LSEG. This marked the strongest growth since the fourth quarter of 2021, surpassing the expected 10.6 percent and the 11.4 percent growth seen in the first quarter of 2022.
Leading sectors include technology, financials, and health care, each with over 20 percent earnings growth, while only materials and real estate sectors ended the season with earnings declines.
