Wall Street closed higher on Friday, pulled up by industrial, financial and tech stocks. Positive data coming in from the labor market and a possible breakthrough in the United States-China trade war kept investor mood upbeat. All of the three most widely followed indexes closed the session in the green.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 1.4%, or 564.47 points, to close at 41,317.43. Twenty-four components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while six ended in negative.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 266.99 points, or 1.5%, to close at 17,977.73.
The S&P 500 gained 82.54 points, or 1.5%, to close at 5,686.68. All of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green. The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF), the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) added 2.1%, 1.8%, 1.7% and 1.7%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 7.8% to 22.68. A total of 15.99 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 19.30 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 3.81-to-1 ratio on the NYSE.
Lack of Clarity Continues to Sway the Markets
A day after a social media account with close ties to the Chinese government said that Washington had been asking to start talks, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Friday that the United States has officially sought negotiations over Trump's tariffs and Beijing's door was open for discussions. From the investors’ point of view, this signals a possible de-escalation in the trade war.
The statement ran, "The U.S. has recently taken the initiative on many occasions to convey information to China through relevant parties, saying it hopes to talk with China," adding that Beijing was evaluating this. China has continued to express its anger at the tariff salvo thrown at them by the Trump administration, which it considers bullying and says that these cannot check its rise. This comes on the back of President Trump’s Wednesday statement that he believed there was a "very good chance" his administration could do a deal with China. Per the Commerce Ministry, the U.S. should be prepared to take action, cancel unilateral tariffs and show "sincerity" in negotiations.
While this led to a broad pickup in stock prices, financial, industrial and tech stocks made the most gains. Consequently, shares of American Express Company AXP and NVIDIA Corporation NVDA gained 3.1% and 2.6%, respectively. Both currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Weekly Roundup
For the week, the S&P 500 rose 2.9%, the Dow gained 3% and the Nasdaq added 3.43%. On Friday, the S&P 500 recorded a ninth consecutive session of gains, matching a winning streak from 2004. The Dow Jones also hit a nine-day winning streak for the first since December 2023.
Economic Data
Per the U.S. Census Bureau, Factory Orders for March came in at 4.3%. The number for February was revised down to 0.5% from the previously reported 0.6%.
Per the Labor Department, Nonfarm Payrolls came in at 177,000 for April. The number for March was revised down to 185,000 from the previously reported 228,000. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%. Average Workweek remained unchanged at 34.3, and Average Hourly Earnings came down to 0.2% from the unrevised 0.3% reported in March.
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American Express Company (AXP): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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