Stocks Extended Weekly Winning Streaks

U.S. stocks finished fractionally higher on Friday, extending weekly winning streaks, as comments from Janet Yellen and other key Federal Reserve officials confirmed growing expectations of a March interest-rate hike. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 2.74 points, or 0.01%, to 21,005.71. For the week, the Dow closed up 0.9%, for a fourth week of gains. The S&P 500 added 1.20 points, or 0.05%, to 2,383.12. For the week, the S&P 500 closed up 0.7%, for a sixth winning week. The Nasdaq Composite gained 9.53 points, or 0.16%, to 5,870.75, for a 0.4% gain on the week, notching a sixth straight week of gains.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says a March rate hike is on the table. At a speech before the Executives Club of Chicago, Yellen said, “given how close we are to meeting our statutory goals, and in the absence of new developments that might materially worsen the economic outlook, the process of scaling back accommodation likely will not be as slow as it was in 2015 and 2016.”

Oil prices surged on Friday, as a weaker dollar encouraged buying but investors remained cautious after Russian production figures showed weak compliance with a global deal to cut output. Global benchmark Brent settled up 82 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $55.90 a barrel. WTI futures rose 72 cents to $53.33 a barrel, a 1.4 percent gain.