Stock market today: Wall Street leaps and halves its losses from what had been a dismal week

U.S. stocks are rallying to halve their losses in what had been one of their worst weeks of the year. The S&P 500 jumped 1.6% Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 691 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.7%. The rally was widespread after a report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than expected. It’s an encouraging signal after the Fed shocked markets Wednesday by saying worries about inflation could keep it from cutting interest rates in 2025 as much as earlier thought.