NEW YORK — The stock market capped a turbulent week with a big gain Friday, a sign of renewed investor confidence after days of gloomy economic news.

It was the latest large move for a market which, with a few exceptions, has been on a mostly downward track since last month. Stocks have had four weeks of declines, leaving the Standard & Poor’s 500 index 6 percent below the record high from Sept. 18.

Investors rode wild market swings for much of the week. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged as much as 460 points Wednesday, then had one of its best days of the year Friday, when it soared more than 260 points after strong earnings from big-name companies Morgan Stanley and General Electric, as well as some encouraging U.S. economic news.

“We had indiscriminate selling all week, and then today we had indiscriminate buying,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

The Dow advanced 263.17 points, or 1.6 percent, to 16,380.41, its second-best day of the year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 24 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,886.76 and the Nasdaq composite rose 41.05 points, or 1 percent, to 4,258.44.

Investors rallied behind a group of corporate earnings results. Overall, the S&P 500’s industrial sector rose nearly 2 percent, making it the best performing part of the market.

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