Wall Street ends higher, NASDAQ marks fifth weekly profit in row

US stock indices rose on Friday with most major indices marking gains this week on optimism towards debt ceiling negotiations.

Continuous Optimism

Both Reuters and Bloomberg reported from President Biden and Congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy's representatives about progression towards raising the debt ceiling for two years.

The White House issues a statement yesterday, noting that negotiations are progressing well on the crucial issue.

Biden will carry on talks with Congressional leaders later this week to avoid a catastrophic default on payments.

Some sticking points however remain between both sides on this issue.

In a sign of impending danger, Fitch Ratings said it has placed US credit rating under negative review, which might lead to a downgrade.

Data

US consumer spending rose more than expected in April, bolstering estimates about growth in the second quarter, however it might push the Federal Reserve to maintain high interest rates for a longer duration.

US consumer spending rose 0.8% last month, beating estimates of a 0.4% increase.

Such strong data calmed down fears of a sharp slowdown in growth during this quarter.

Dow Jones rose 1%, or 328 points to 33,093, while marking a weekly loss of 1%, with a session-high at 33,162, and a low at 32,795.

S&P 500 rose 1.3%, or 54 points to 4,205, with a weekly profit of 0.3%, with a session-high at 4,213, and a low at 4,155.

NASDAQ added 2.2%, or 277 points to 12,975, with a weekly profit of 2.5%, and a session-high at 13,002, and a low at 12,729.