On Friday, U.S. shares inched but were set for weekly gains, along with other stock markets, after this week’s strong economic data helped ease fears of a recession in the biggest economy in the world.
The NASDAQ Composite declined 0.3%, the S&P 500 lost 0.09%, and the dow jones Industrial Average fell 0.05% in early trading.
MSCI’s global stock index gained 0.15% as it added to the week-long recovery from last week’s market turmoil due to foreign exchange gyrations and U.S. recession fears. On Friday the STOXX pan-European share index gained 0.1% and was on track for a weekly rise.
The VIX U.S. stock volatility index, generally known as the market’s fear gauge, was at benign levels of around 15 after early last week hitting a four-year high of 65.
The sharp market sentiment turnaround came after this week’s slew of U.S. data showed retail spending was robust while inflation was moderating.
That has helped the market mood to move away from recession fears, due to a weak U.S. jobs report early in Aug., to confidence the economy will keep growing. Weaker inflation data has also fueled expectations of a September Fed rate cut.
