US stocks edge higher as Treasury Secretary Yellen pushes for more stimulus
- US stocks edged higher on Friday as a push for additional fiscal stimulus was made by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
- "The price of doing too little is much higher than the price of doing something big," Yellen said.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
US stocks finished the day mostly higher on Friday, rebounding from a three-day losing streak after Janet Yellen advocated for more stimulus spending. The Dow and Nasdaq gained, while the S&P 500 finished slightly lower.
In a Thursday interview, Yellen told CNBC that there's a lot of pain in the economy still, evidenced by the recent jobless claims, which exceeded economist expectations.
"The price of doing too little is much higher than the price of doing something big," Yellen said, advocating for Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Friday:
- S&P 500: 3,906.73, up 0.18%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 31,494.78, up 0.01% (1.25 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 13,874.46, up 0.07%
Yellen did warn that investors should be wary of high-flying sectors in the stock market that trade at nose bleed valuations. Rising inflation was less of a worry for Yellen, who pointed out that the Fed has tools to combat rampant inflation.
Bitcoin cruised to an all-time high on Friday, breaching the $55,000 level for the first time ever. The cryptocurrency is now worth $1 trillion.
Uber fell as much as 2% after the UK Supreme Court ruled that its drivers are employees, not independent contractors, which would entitle them to basic worker rights like paid holidays and a minimum wage
Novavax jumped 10% after it inked a global supply deal to provide more than 1 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Oil prices were lower. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 2.54%, to $59.98 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, was down 1.94%, to $62.70 per barrel.
Gold rose 0.29%, to $1,780.20 per ounce.