New York ReportStocks rose on Friday after Saudi Arabia's call for increased oil production drove crude prices below $40 a barrel and eased worries that soaring energy costs could derail the recovering US economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 29.10 points, or 0.29 percent, to 9,966.74, while the broader S&P 500 index added 4.37 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,093.56. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite index gained 15.50 points, or 0.82 percent, to 1,912.09.
The rally on Friday, however, was not enough to keep the blue chips from notching their fourth week of losses. The Dow ended the week down 0.46 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.19 percent for the week. The Nasdaq, however, broke its three-week losing streak, finishing up 0.41 percent.
Treasury prices slipped on Friday as a decline in the cost of oil from recent highs spelled good news for the US economy, to the detriment of safe-haven government debt.
With no major economic releases on the slate, the bearish sentiment that has plagued Treasuries for two months now settled back into its usual pattern of nudging yields, which move inversely to prices, continuously higher.
The dip largely offset Thursday's gains, when a batch of poor data offered bond bulls a reason to step into the market.
In afternoon trade, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was trading 13/32 lower, boosting its yield to 4.76 percent from 4.71 percent on Thursday.
The 30-year bond lost 17/32 in price, with the yield rising to 5.46 percent from 5.42 percent on Thursday. Five-year notes lost 7/32 for a yield of 3.90 percent, from 3.85 percent on Thursday, while two-year yields climbed to 2.56 percent from 2.51 percent.
Investors have dumped bonds for weeks as the market converges on expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates soon, possibly at its next policy meeting in June.
Inflation remained a key source of concern for the market, with investors anxious about a recent trend of price increases outside the volatile food and energy sectors - so-called core inflation.
JP Morgan economists on Friday announced a revision in their core inflation forecasts, raising year-on-year estimates for core personal consumption expenditures to 2.4 percent from 2.2 percent.
Traders will be sure to keep a close eye next week on the monthly PCE data, slated for release on Friday, as it is one of the Fed's favored measures of inflation.
