U.S. stocks rebounded Friday as investors hunted for bargains at the end of a tumultuous week in which U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating trade war fueled recession fears and doused risk appetite.
A broad rally boosted all three major U.S. stock indexes to solid gains, with recently battered tech-related megacaps enjoying a comeback. Every one of the so-called Magnificent 7 artificial intelligence-related momentum stocks advanced, although six of them remain down on the year.
"I don't see a catalyst that would spark this huge upside we're seeing in markets," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky.
"We're obviously down 10% from all-time highs and pretty oversold, which sets good conditions for a rally even if the fundamental problems are not solved."
Even with Friday's bounce, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched their fourth straight weekly losses. The Dow also posted a Friday-to-Friday dip.
Encouraging inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday was overshadowed this week by mounting uncertainties arising from Trump's frequently shifting policies, including tariff threats against the biggest U.S. trading partners.
Those uncertainties sent investors fleeing from equities in favor of safe-haven assets, lifting gold prices above the $3,000 per ounce level for the first time.
"The market doesn't like the tariff stuff, the added uncertainty that keeps them from planning and making decisions," said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital, in St. Louis, Missouri.
"Trump is ... wreaking havoc, with his advisors talking about detox, about how maybe a recession is coming, maybe not. It's unsettling, indecisive, it's bad for the economy and bad for the stock market."
Those anxieties were laid bare by a dire report from the University of Michigan, which showed consumer sentiment plummeting to its most pessimistic level in nearly two years and one-year inflation expectations spiking to 4.9%.
The report echoes other recent downbeat survey data, including a Reuters/Ipsos poll of Americans conducted March 11-12 that showed 57% of survey participants believe Trump's policies will do more harm than good.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 117.42 points, or 2.13%, to end at 5,638.94 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 451.07 points, or 2.61%, to 17,754.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 674.62 points, or 1.65%, to 41,488.19.
Tesla rose following a report on the electric vehicle maker's plans to make a lower-cost version of its best-selling Model Y in Shanghai, aiming to regain ground lost during a price war in its second-largest market.
Nvidia's shares advanced ahead of next week's GPU Technology Conference (GTC), which is expected to culminate in a hotly anticipated keynote address from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
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