Dow and S&P 500 finish 3rd straight winning week as more data shows inflation is cooling

• Stocks rose on Friday as investors cheered good news from the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.
• The PCE price index rose 0.2% last month, in line with economists' expectations.

US stocks rose on Friday as investors priced in more good inflation news, leaving the indexes with their third-straight week of gains.

For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, the S&P 500 gained 1%, and the Nasdaq rose 2%.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, increased 0.2% month over month in June, in-line with economists' estimates. Meanwhile, core PCE rose 4.1% year over year, slightly below the anticipated 4.2% increase.

The latest data is a promising sign that inflation is continuing to slow in the economy, which is revving up bets that the Fed could pause interest rate hikes in September. Markets are pricing in an 80% chance interest rates are kept at the 5.25%-5.5% range at the Fed's next policy meeting, per the CME FedWatch tool.

Here's where US indexes stood as the market closed 4:00 p.m. on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,582.23, up 0.99%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,459.29, up 0.5% (176.57 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 14,316.66, up 1.9%

Here's what else is going on:

• Palantir stock could soar 54% as the company has built an unmatched "AI fortress," Wedbush said.
• Mortgage rates could jump to levels unseen since 2000 as the bond market is on the verge of a breakdown, economist Peter Schiff said.
• US gas prices just spiked to their second-highest level since November.
• Soaring home prices mean first-time homebuyers need to be making 13% more money to afford a starter home.
• Argentina should ditch the peso in favor of a "hard dollar regime," a think tank said.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices rose, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.42% to $80.43 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, edged up 0.56% to $84.71 a barrel.
• Gold ticked higher 0.7% to $1,958.01 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield slipped four basis points to 3.969%.
• Bitcoin rose 0.56% to $29,315.01.