US stocks gain after Treasury Secretary Yellen pushes for more stimulus
- US stocks gained on Friday after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen advocated for more stimulus.
- "The price of doing too little is much higher than the price of doing something big," Yellen said.
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US stocks moved higher on Friday, rebounding from a three-day losing streak after Janet Yellen advocated for more stimulus spending.
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 after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:
- S&P 500: 3,926.70, up 0.33%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 31,546.74, up 0.17% (53.40 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 13,930.95, up 0.49%
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.
Uber fell as much as 4% 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 1%, to $59.92 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, was down 0.69%, to $63.50 per barrel.
Gold rose 0.38%, to $1,781.30 per ounce.