NEW YORK, June 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks wrapped up the week on a cheerful note, as Wall Street was buoyed by the U.S. Federal Reserve's loosening stance on monetary policy, which fueled market bets on further rate cuts later this year.

Investors also digested a batch of mixed data, which added to broad worries over the pace of U.S. economic growth.

In the week ending June 21, the Dow rose 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 was up 2.18 percent, and the Nasdaq gained 2.99 percent.

This week marked upbeat trading sessions for the market with a high start and a slightly low ending, the only negative trading day of the week.

On Friday, the three major indexes ended with minor losses, yet capping off a strong week with marked gains, as investors' bets on potential rate cuts by the Fed continued to underpin the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 34.04 points, or 0.13 percent, to 26,719.13. The S&P 500 was down 3.72 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,950.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 19.63 points, or 0.24 percent, to 8,031.71.

Throughout the week, market participants closely observed and studied a two-day crucial policy meeting of the Fed, which markedly eased pressure on equities.

The Fed decided to hold federal funds rate steady at 2.25 to 2.5 percent, yet hinted at possible rate cuts over the remainder of the year, saying on Wednesday it "will act as appropriate to sustain expansion".

Noting that uncertainties about the economic outlook "have increased," the central bank dropped the "patient" language shown in its previous statements.

"In light of these uncertainties and muted inflation pressures, the Committee will closely monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook and will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion," said the Fed in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.

"The Fed left rates on hold but sent a clear message - the next move is a cut. The only question now is the timing," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) in a research report on Wednesday.

During a press conference after the meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed saw headline inflation falling further to 1.5 percent this year, adding that weaker global growth could pull down global inflation.

As the Fed's messages exceeded market expectations, Wall Street "seems to be satisfied with the promise from the Fed that they stand ready to ease and will react as appropriate based on how the 'cross currents' evolve," according to BofAML.

Investors' bullish anticipation on the Fed's possible stance had propelled the three benchmark indexes to surge on Monday to the highest levels since May, adding to June's constant rally.

The Dow even once skyrocketed over 400 points several hours after the meeting kicked off Tuesday morning.

More surprisingly, the probabilities of "ease" in Fed's interest rates surged all the way to 100 percent around Wednesday's closing bell, just two hours after the Fed's announcement, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool,

That indicated major market players' belief that rate cuts could become certain later this year.

Meanwhile, Wall Street digested a set of key economic data this week.

On the economic front, existing-home sales rebounded 2.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million in May from the previous month, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

The growth came as each of the four major U.S. regions rose in sales, with the Northeast hitting the biggest surge last month.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index dropped to 50.6 in June from 50.9 in May, according to British information provider IHS Markit.

The reading marks the weakest expansion of business activity for over three years, as the country's private sector output growth has been on the decline since February, due to "less favorable domestic economic conditions" and "a tendency for greater risk aversion."

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index tumbled to only 0.3 in June, as manufacturing conditions in the region sharply weakened.

The reading came after a four-month high of 16.6 in May, according to the June Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey released on Thursday.

U.S. jobless claims, a key metric to gauge unemployment, fell and approached close to the lowest level in decades, indicating a strong U.S. labor market.

The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits was 216,000 for the week ending June 15, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Manufacturing firms in New York State reported "a sharp turn downward" in business activity, according to the June 2019 Empire State Manufacturing Survey released on Monday.

The general business conditions index plummeted 26 points, its largest monthly decline on record, to minus 8.6, marking the first negative reading in more than two years.

The new orders index tumbled 22 points to minus 12.0, indicating a decline in orders. While the shipment index fell seven points to 9.7, pointing to a modest increase in shipment. Enditem

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