US stocks close higher, post largest weekly gain since November 2020

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The US stock market closed higher on Friday as indices posted their largest weekly gains since November 2020.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 274 points, or 0.8%, to 34,754 at final bell. The blue-chip index gained 5.5% this week.

The S&P 500 jumped 51 points, or 1.17%, to close at 4,463. The index rose 6.2% for the week.

The Nasdaq rallied 279 points, or 2.05%, to finish the day at 13,893. The tech-heavy index posted a weekly gain of 8.2%.

The VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, plummeted 7% to 23.87. The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 2.2% to 2.144%.

The dollar index, on the other hand, was up 0.23% to 98.20.

Precious metals were on decline with gold losing 1.1% to $1,920 per ounce and silver losing 1.8% to $24.91.

Crude prices posted some gains with global benchmark Brent crude trading at $107.63 per barrel, up 0.93%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $104.54 – a 1.5% gain.