After wobble, US stocks finish with slight gains

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Major stock indexes shook off an early stumble to finish with slight gains Friday as traders turned their attention to a key meeting of the Federal Reserve next week.

It was a quiet end to another turbulent week. Thanks largely to a big jump Tuesday, the market finished with a 2 percent gain for the week, recouping a portion of the steep losses from the week before.

The major indexes headed lower at the opening of trading Friday, as falling oil prices pulled oil and gas companies down.

The economic news wasn’t encouraging, either. A reading on consumer confidence this month sank to its lowest level since September 2014.

“It seems people are focused on the market’s volatility and the potential impact of a slowing China,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors in New York, the money-management firm.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 8.76 points to close at 1,961.05.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 102.69 points to 16,433.09, while the Nasdaq composite rose 26.09 to 4,822.34.

News about China’s slowing economy, a looming rate increase from the Fed and a host of other concerns have combined to knock the market down 6 percent over the past month. It has been a staggered fall, with sharp drops one week followed by slight gains the next.

Wall Street is divided over whether the Fed will raise its benchmark lending rate next week for the first time in nine years. The Fed slashed its key rate to near zero during the financial crisis, supporting the stock market’s seven-year run. Uncertainty over the Fed’s timing has kept investors on edge.