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

ANKARA

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.