Stocks rose sharply in early trade on Wall Street Friday and added to weekly gains for the benchmark indexes. The S&P 500 rose 25.69 points or 0.61% to 4,232.96 as of 10:18 am Eastern time. About 85% of stocks in the index were trading in green. It is on track for its first four-week winning streak since last year.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 116.39 points or 0.35% to 33,453.06. The Nasdaq Composite rose 116.50 points or 0.91% to 12,896.41.

Technology and communications stock were the biggest gainers in broader market. Chipmaker Nvidia surged 3.1% and Meta Platforms gained 1.7%.

Energy stocks were trading in the red as the US oil price fell 2.5%. Hess slipped 1.1%.

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The Federal Reserve’s policies to curb inflation remain a priority for Wall Street. Investors have been looking for some relief from the record high inflation in four decades and stocks rallied on Wednesday after an encouraging report on consumer prices from the Labor Department.

The wholesale inflation also slowed more than economists expected last month, according to an official report released on Thursday. On Friday, a survey by the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment is stronger than expected by economists.

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The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.86% from 2.88% late Thursday. It remains below the two-year yield, which is at 3.25%. According to some investors, this is a reliable indicator of a pending recession and the economy has already contracted for two consecutive quarters.

Next week, the Commerce Department will release its retail sales report for July. Retail giant Walmart will release its latest financial results.

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Investors will get more insights into the health of the housing market when they receive a report on home sales for July and the latest earnings from Home Depot.