Stocks move higher, S&P 500 headed for best week since April

TOKYO — Stocks were mostly higher Friday, keeping the market on track for its biggest weekly gain since April.

The S&P 500 was up 0.3% as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1%. All three indexes are up 2.5% or more this week alone.

The Dow’s gains were being driven by a surge in Nike, which reported blowout earnings late Thursday and gave investors a strong outlook for the year. Nike jumped 14%.

Markets have calmed since the Federal Reserve surprised investors last week by saying it could start raising short-term interest rates by late 2023, earlier than expected, if recent high inflation persists.

Investors got another data point on inflation on Friday. The Commerce Department said inflation tied to a gauge of consumer spending that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve increased 0.4% in May and is up 3.9% over the past 12 months, well above the Fed’s 2% target for annual price increases.

Investors are also embracing a bipartisan deal for infrastructure spending. President Biden and a group of Democrat and GOP senators were able to reach a near $1 trillion deal to build out numerous parts of the country’s infrastructure, including roads, rails and ports. The plan, costing $973 billion over five years, is the culmination of months of talks, and a larger spending plan from President Biden is still possible later this year.

FedEx fell 4% after the company announced it would increase its spending to reduce delivery delays across its network.