US stocks end higher, Nasdaq posted its biggest quarterly gain ‎since 2020‎

US stock indices rose at the close of trading on Friday, supported by calm over the banking crisis, in addition to inflation data, which may discourage the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates further.

According to government data, the personal consumption expenditures index in the United States (which is the preferred metric for the US Federal Reserve to measure inflation performance) slowed last month to 0.3% from 0.5% in the previous reading.

On an annual basis, the increase in the personal consumption expenditure index slowed to 5% in February from 5.3% in January, the lowest level in more than a year and a half.

The banking crisis loomed over Wall Street throughout the month of March, especially after the announcement of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the subsequent turmoil in the banking sector, such as the collapse of Signature Bank, by Credit Suisse in Switzerland, before its acquisition from UBS.

At the end of the Friday session, the Dow Jones rose by 1.3%, or 415 points, to 33,274 points, and the Nasdaq rose by 1.7%, or 208 points, to 12,222 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose by 1.4%, or 58 points, to 4109 points.

This, the Standard & Poor’s and Nasdaq indices rose by 7.03% and 16.77%, respectively, in the first quarter. The quarter was the best since 2020 for the Nasdaq Technology Index, while the Dow Jones ended the period with a gain of 0.4%.

On a monthly basis, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose by 3.51% and 6.69%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones average gained 1.89% through the end of March.