US stocks gain for three weeks straight despite modest loss on Friday

The S&P 500 fell 0.1% on Friday after swinging between small gains and losses but still ended the week with 0.6% gain. The Nasdaq 100, similarly, closed down 0.5% but up 1.1% for the week. On the other hand, the Russell 2000 added 0.7% on Friday but had a weekly loss of 0.1%.

The personal consumption expenditures price index for August came in 2.2%, the lowest since February 2021. This was closer to the Federal Reserve’s inflation target of 2% than last month. Core PCE — excluding energy and food — picked up slightly from last month to 2.7%.

Treasury yields fell. The dollar retreated for the fourth consecutive week.

Most S&P 500 sectors advanced. The energy sector took the lead, up 2%. On the other hand, technology, materials and health care declined. The technology select sector SPDR fund slid 0.9%.

Tech stocks were dragged by Dell, which lost 4.9%, and HP, which fell 4% on news that Bank of America Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral. Shares of Nvidia also dipped, down 2.2% on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that China urged local companies to buy domestically produced chips instead of the Nvidia ones. 

Casino stocks continued their rally on the heels of Beijing’s stimulus. Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands were among the best S&P 500 performers of the day, and both added more than 20% this week.