S&P 500 ends volatile week as Fed hikes rates, yields jump, oil surges

The benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) inched up 0.1% at 7,650.50 points on Friday to close the volatile week that saw the Federal Reserve deliver its first interest rate hike in three years, Treasury yields climb above 5%, and oil prices remain above $100 a barrel.

The index was down 0.1% for the week.

The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday to a range of 3.75%-4%. The 10-year Treasury yield briefly topped 5% during the week, reaching its highest level since 2007. Crude prices also surged this week after damage to Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline raised concerns about supply disruptions. Prices retreated from highs of $106 as fears of a prolonged disruption eased, but crude remained above $100 a barrel on Friday.

This week's Friday also coincided with quadruple witching, which is when stock-index futures, stock-index options, stock options, and single-stock futures expire, which contributes to volatility.

Technology leads sector gains

Technology was the S&P 500's strongest-performing sector for the week, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK gaining 3.69%. The advance was driven largely by a rebound in semiconductor and chip-equipment stocks. On Friday, Broadcom AVGO, up 3%, and Lam Research LRCX and Applied Materials AMAT, up about 7%, were among the notable gainers.

The technology sector had started the week under pressure after an AI-related selloff, but chip stocks recovered later in the week.

Other S&P 500 sectors were mostly lower. Communication Services XLC fell 2.5%, Financials XLF dropped 2.63%, Utilities XLU lost 2.95%, Consumer Staples XLP declined 1.77%, Consumer Discretionary XLY slipped 1.17%, Materials XLB fell 1.40%, Real Estate XLRE dropped 2%, and Energy XLE declined 2.44%.

Industrials XLI gained 0.62%, and Health Care XLV rose 0.30%.