Market ends the week with a rebound

U.S. stocks ended a down week on a high note Friday, snapping a five-day losing streak. A sharp rebound in oil prices and a modest gain in January's retail sales helped lift the stock market to its first gain since late last week.

Despite the rally, the major U.S. stock indexes ended the week down about 1 percent, and they remain down more than 8 percent for the year.

"It's a relief to see after several very ugly days in a row, but I wouldn't hang my hat on it and say the worst is over," said Rob Eschweiler, global investment specialist at JPMorgan.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 313.66 points, or 2 percent, to close at 15,973.84. The Nasdaq composite added 70.67 points, or 1.7 percent, to 4,337.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 35.70 points, or 2 percent, to 1,864.78.

Global stocks have been in a slump since the beginning of 2016 on concerns that growth in China, the engine of the world economy in recent years, is slowing faster than expected. Plunging oil prices and low inflation have added to market jitters.

Those worries also helped drive the stock market lower in recent days and continued to batter stocks in Asia. Japan's main stock index lost nearly 5 percent Friday. But the U.S. downbeat snapped as investors were encouraged by retail sales and a rally in Europe.

Benchmark U.S. crude climbed $3.23, or 12.3 percent, to close at $29.44 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, gained $3.30, or 11 percent, to $33.36 a barrel in London.

In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline rose 10 cents, or 10.8 percent, to $1.04 a gallon; home heating oil was up 9 cents, or 9.2 percent, to $1.07 a gallon; and natural gas fell 3 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $1.97 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In metals trading, gold fell $8.40, or 0.7 percent, to $1,239.40 an ounce. Silver was flat at $15.79 an ounce. Copper rose 2 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $2.03 a pound.