Stocks climbed Friday as Wall Street wrapped up a historically wild week.
The S&P 500 advanced 1.81% to end at 5,363.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 619.05 points, or 1.56%, and closed at 40,212.71. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.06% to settle at 16,724.46.
Stocks took a leg higher Friday afternoon on comments from the White House that President Donald Trump is “optimistic” China will seek a deal with the U.S.
This week has been one of the most volatile periods on record for Wall Street. The major averages tumbled Thursday as traders went into risk-off mode, with trade policy uncertainty weighing on sentiment. Stocks lost a chunk of the historic gains seen on Wednesday after Trump announced a 90-day reprieve on some of his high “reciprocal” tariffs.
The S&P 500 fell 3.46% on Thursday, while the 30-stock Dow tumbled 1,014.79 points, or 2.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day lower by 4.31%. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rallied 9.52% for its third-largest gain in a single day since World War II, while the 30-stock Dow skyrocketed more than 2,900 points.
The CBOE Volatility Index, known as the Vix, earlier in the week spiked above 50 before dropping to about 37 as of Friday afternoon.
The Trump Administration has opted for a universal tariff rate of 10% — except for China. Goods from Beijing will see a rate of 145%, a White House official confirmed to CNBC on Thursday.
China on Friday retaliated by raising its levies on U.S. products to 125% from 84%. “Even if the U.S. continues to impose higher tariffs, it will no longer make economic sense and will become a joke in the history of world economy,” the Chinese finance ministry said in a statement, according to a CNBC translation.
Meanwhile, the European Union said its trade representative was flying to Washington on Sunday to “try and sign deals.”
“We remain in the early innings of this global trade regime change, and while the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs temporarily reversed the market selloff, it does prolong uncertainty,” Wells Fargo Investment Institute president Darrell Cronk wrote in a note on Friday.
Here are the U.S. tariffs currently in place:
- 145% duty on all goods from China
- 25% tariffs targeting aluminum, autos and goods from Canada and Mexico not under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
- 10% levy on all other imports
Despite the tumultuous week, the three major averages notched solid gains in the period. The S&P 500 posted a 5.7% advance for its best week since November 2023. The Nasdaq rose 7.3% during the week for its best performance since November 2022. The Dow gained nearly 5% over the week.
To be sure, the major averages remain sharply lower since April 2, when the White House announced so-called reciprocal tariffs on goods from other countries. Since then, the S&P 500 is down more than 5%.
The latest consumer sentiment numbers for April came in worse than expected. The expected inflation level also surged to its highest level since 1981, according to the University of Michigan survey on consumers.
