NEW YORK — Stocks closed out their strongest week in five years Friday and have now recovered more than half of the losses they suffered in a plunge at the beginning of the month.
Investors got back to buying stocks almost as quickly as they started dumping them. The gain Friday was the sixth in a row for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. A combination of cheaper prices for stocks as well as solid company profits put investors back in a buying mood.
The S&P 500, which many index funds track, has risen almost 6 percent in its current streak. Investors haven’t hesitated to buy the same types of stocks that did well before the market’s recent slump, including technology companies and banks.
In a typical market downturn, investors might avoid stocks that have had huge run-ups out of fear they had gotten too expensive. Instead, investors are still betting on more strength in the economy and are buying companies that tend to do better in times of faster growth.