Wall Street shrugged off concerns about the Bank of Japan's policy change as another round of US data bolstered bets on the so-called Goldilocks scenario, in which the economy is neither too hot nor too cold.
The stock market surged higher as key inflation indicators eased further and Americans became more optimistic about the economy. When combined with recent data showing that the US economy has remained relatively resilient despite aggressive rate hikes, the reports fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve will be able to avoid a recession.
Megacaps led equities gains on Friday, with the Nasdaq 100 up nearly 2% and the S&P 500 up 1% for its third straight weekly gain. Meta Platforms and Tesla gained more than 4% each, while Intel gained about 6.5% on a positive sales forecast. Bond yields fell in tandem with the dollar.
