Stock market today: live updates

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded on Friday, capping a difficult week that saw the index plunge 1,100 points in a single day, ending its longest losing streak since the 1970s. Some weaker-than-expected inflation data contributed to Friday’s rebound.

The 30-stock Dow gained 500 points, or 1.2%. The S&P 500 added 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.7%.

The November reading of the consumer spending price index – the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation – rose 2.4% year over year. That was slightly less than economists had expected and helped defuse some of the pessimistic sentiment that emerged earlier this week when the Fed said it would scale back future interest rate cuts in part because of stubborn inflation.

Stocks that suffered losses earlier in the session, such as Nvidia and Tesla, led Friday’s comeback. Tesla was recently up about 1%. Nvidia gained 2%.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC’s Steve Liesman he was encouraged by Friday’s inflation numbers and said interest rates could still fall next year despite the central bank’s cautious stance.

“We’re still on track to hit 2% and at least for this new month you don’t want to get too much out of any month, but I hope this suggests that the few months of consolidation were over.” “More likely a bump as a change in path,” Goolsbee said.

It’s a positive end to a turbulent week. During Thursday’s trading session, the Dow posted a 15-point gain, ending a 10-day losing streak – the longest since 1974. The small gain came a day after the Dow plunged 1,100 points on Wednesday. The trigger for the decline was that the Fed announced only two interest rate cuts next year instead of the four originally forecast.

“Today has reassured people,” said Tom Fitzpatrick, principal of RJ O’Brien and Associates. “(It is) unlikely that we will get a downside catalyst now before Christmas and New Year, so (the) moves of the last few days may be somewhat reversed.”

The mood was somewhat dampened on Friday because on Thursday evening a Republican measure in the House of Representatives, supported by Trump, to fund the government for three months and avert a government shutdown failed. Without an agreement, a partial shutdown is expected to begin on Friday evening.

The Dow Jones lost about 2.7% this week, heading for its worst weekly performance since September. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are each down around 2% for the week.

—CNBC’s Sarah Min and Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.