S&P 500 rises, aims for fourth-straight winning month: Live updates

Stocks rose Friday as investors looked to end a volatile month of trading on a high note, while assessing crucial inflation data closely watched by the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 traded 0.2% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 86 points, or 0.2%.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.5% from a year ago, coming in line with estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, it also rose 0.2%.

The Fed keeps a close eye on this metric, and it could still influence policymakers’ rate decision in September.

“The equity markets are very much behaving as if everything is sanguine,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management, speaking on Friday’s gains across all three indexes. “There’s more evidence for the soft landing, and there’s less evidence that the Fed is going to cut aggressively.”

As August’s trading winds down, the S&P 500 is on pace for a nearly 1.7% gain during the month, while the Dow is on track to add 1.3%. The Nasdaq Composite has lagged and was last unchanged on the month. The S&P 500 was on pace for its fourth straight winning month.

The major averages suffered a steep sell-off at the start of August, with the S&P 500 losing as much as 7.3% before recovering. The Dow and Nasdaq were down as much as 5.4% and 10.7%, respectively, at their lows this month.