• The S&P 500 posted its best week of the year as investors cheered the latest economic data.
• Data on Friday showed that consumer sentiment rose in August for the first time in five months.
• The reading capped a series of encouraging data points, including lower inflation and strong retail sales.

The S&P 500 closed out its best week of 2024, rising 3.9% in five days. The big sell-off earlier this month was offset by a number of strong data points pointing to a soft landing.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.2 percent on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 97 points.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 3.89%, down six points for the week, as investors scaled back bets on deeper rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The week kicked off with two new inflation numbers that showed that price pressures in the US economy are easing, with consumer inflation falling below 3% for the first time in three years.

That was followed by a surprise 1% increase in retail sales and the lowest unemployment figures in five weeks. And finally, the University of Michigan consumer survey for August, released Friday, showed U.S. consumers feeling optimistic about the economy and their finances for the first time in five months.

Here are the US indices at the close of trading on Thursday at 4:00 p.m.:

Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note following this week’s data updates that investors should not lose faith amid the sharp volatility the market has experienced this month, saying a soft landing for the U.S. economy is firmly in sight.

“From a market perspective, we again believe it makes sense to distance ourselves from extreme concerns and rely on the assumption of continued growth and declining inflation rather than a looming recession,” the analysts wrote.

Next week, investors will be watching the economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for clues about what Federal Reserve policy will look like in September. Markets are confident the central bank will make its first rate cut, although the likelihood of a massive 50 basis point cut has dropped significantly after this week’s data.

Here’s what else happens:

For commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies:

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8 percent to $76.72 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.5 percent to $79.78 a barrel.
• The price of gold was $2,463.30.
• The yield on 10-year government bonds fell three basis points to 3.88%.
• Bitcoin rose 3.75% to $59,710.