Stocks finished a stellar week with even more gains, despite Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell preparing Wall Street for the central bank's tapering of $120 billion worth of monthly bond purchases by the end of the year. However, Powell added interest rate hikes would not soon follow. As a result, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq nabbed record closes and weekly wins, and both marked their best week since July. The Dow scored a winning week of its own after registering a 242-point pop, as the 10-year Treasury yield eased following Powell's speech. Meanwhile, Wall Street's "fear gauge," the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), locked its worst weekly performance since June.

The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 35,455.80) rose 242.7 points or 0.7% for the day. Dow Inc (DOW) led the list of Dow winners after gaining 2.7%, while Walmart (WMT) fell 0.6% to pace the laggards. For the week, the Dow tacked on 1%.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 4,509.37) gained 39.4 points or 0.9% for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 15,129.50) added 183.7 points or 1.2% for the day. For the week, the indexes added 1.5% and 2.8%, respectively.

Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 16.39) shed 2.5 points or 13% for the day, and 11.7% for the week.

OIL SCORES WEEKLY WIN AS HURRICANE IDA LOOMS

Oil closed out a winning week with another pop, spurred on by worries that supply disruptions may come about as Hurricane Ida looms over the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, some companies have already started to remove workers from platforms in the area. In response, October-dated crude jumped $1.32, or 2%, to settle at $68.74 per barrel. For the week, prices rose more than 10%.

Gold prices also notched a win today, after Powell reiterated the transitory nature of current inflation levels, and failed to offer a timeline for the central bank to begin tapering off stimulus. Also boosting the yellow metal was a weaker U.S. dollar. December-dated gold added $24.30, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,819.50 an ounce for the day. For the week, prices gained 2%.