US close: Major indices wrap up rollercoaster week with solid gains

Wall Street stocks recorded solid gains on Friday as a rollercoaster week for major indices drew to a close.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.65% at 34,725.47, while the S&P 500 was 2.43% weaker at 4,431.85 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 3.13% stronger at 13,770.57.

The Dow closed 564.69 points higher on Friday after a broadly flat session a day earlier as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and a number of data points.

Friday's primary focus, however, was data from the Commerce Department that revealed its December personal consumption expenditures price index had risen 4.9% year-on-year, ahead of expectations of a 4.8% gain for its fastest gain since September 1983. Alongside the inflation figure, personal income rose 0.3% month-on-month, slightly lower than the 0.4% estimate, while consumer spending declined 0.6%, less than the 0.7% predicted.

Elsewhere on the macro front, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 67.2 in December, down from the flash estimate of 68.7 and well below November's reading of 70.6 to its lowest reading since 2011.

In the corporate space, Apple shares were up 6.98% at the end of trading after the tech behemoth posted its largest-ever single quarter revenue performance overnight despite supply challenges and the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, while Chevron shares were in the red 3.52% after the firm's fourth-quarter profits fell short of expectations.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was slightly lower ahead of the bell at 1.771%.