*
February PCE growth slows
*
S&P 500 set to gain for second straight quarter
*
Indexes up: Dow 0.8%, S&P 0.9%, Nasdaq 1.3%
(Updates to late afternoon, adds NEW YORK dateline)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq was set to
post its biggest quarterly gain since June 2020, with U.S.
stocks rallying on Friday as signs of cooling inflation
bolstered hopes the Federal Reserve might soon end its
aggressive interest rate hikes.
The S&P 500 was on track to post a second
straight quarter of gains, led by the technology sector's 20% rise.
The quarterly gains came despite a sharp sell-off in bank
stocks following the collapse of two regional banks earlier this
month.
The Commerce Department report Friday showed U.S. consumer
spending rose moderately in February while inflation cooled.
"The equity market seems to be delighted with the slight
tick lower in inflation, as it should be. It underscores that
the Fed's campaign is, in fact, working, albeit slowly," said
Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Fed has been raising rates to cool inflation, and
traders' bets of a 25-basis-point rate hike in May stood at
53.8% on Friday, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 266.83 points,
or 0.81%, to 33,125.86, the S&P 500 gained 38.09 points,
or 0.94%, at 4,088.92 and the Nasdaq Composite added
152.08 points, or 1.27%, at 12,165.56.
The Philadelphia semiconductor index edged higher,
extending its strong gains for the quarter.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a
3.97-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.25-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 106 new lows.
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S&P 500 sectoral performance in Q1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by
Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas; additional reporting by
Johann M Cherian Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Maju Samuel)
