By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global shares rose on Friday as Wall Street rallied to end a volatile week of trading, while oil jumped 4% on the back of record-high U.S. gas prices.
Global markets and U.S. stocks were down sharply most of this week as investors grew anxious about the possibility of recession. The S&P 500 index is off nearly 20% from its all-time high in January and was close to a bear market on Thursday. [.N]
But investors' fears over whether U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell can accomplish a "soft landing" - bringing inflation down while keeping the U.S. economy growing - appeared to ease at least temporarily on Friday.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 2.30% at 4:07 p.m. ET (2007 GMT), after hitting its lowest since November 2020 on Thursday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 2.14%.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 94.57 points, or 2.41%, to end at 4,024.65 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 436.61 points, or 3.84%, to 11,807.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 466.43 points, or 1.47%, to 32,196.73.
Despite Friday's gains, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their sixth consecutive weekly loss, and the Dow notched its seventh consecutive weekly dip.
Emerging market stocks rose 1.83%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 2.01% from Thursday's 22-month closing low. Japan's Nikkei rose 2.64%.
"Stocks were ready to rebound as some investors remain hopeful the Fed will deliver a soft landing, while others are ready to buy the dip," said Edward Moya, analyst at OANDA.
Cryptocurrencies steadied on Friday, with bitcoin recovering from a 16-month low after a volatile week dominated by the collapse in value of TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, rose 3.5% to $29,884, rebounding from a December 2020 low of $25,400 hit on Thursday. Bitcoin remains far below week-earlier levels of around $40,000 and is on track for a record seventh consecutive weekly loss.
Oil prices jumped 4% as U.S. gasoline prices jumped to a record high and China looked ready to ease pandemic restrictions.
Brent futures rose $4.10, or 3.8%, to settle at $111.55 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $4.36, or 4.1%, to settle at $110.49.
GRAPHIC: S&P 500 set for a sixth straight week of falls (https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/zdpxoglxgvx/stx1305.PNG)
Markets are likely to experience a short-term rebound before resuming the sell-off which has sent Wall Street's Nasdaq tech index down over 25% since the beginning of the year, BofA analysts wrote in a weekly strategy note.