U.S. stocks bounced back Friday, but not by enough to keep Wall Street from heading toward a fourth straight losing week, which would be its longest such streak since August.
The S&P 500 was one per cent higher in morning trading, a day after closing more than 10 per cent below its record for its first “ correction ” since 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 241 points, or 0.6 per cent, as of 10:20 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3 per cent higher.
One piece of uncertainty hanging over Wall Street may be clearing after the Senate made moves to prevent a possible partial shutdown of the U.S. government. A deadline is looming at midnight for it.
Past shutdowns have not been a huge deal for financial markets, with investors pointing to how U.S. economic growth recovered after funding was restored. But any clearing of uncertainty can be helpful when so much of it has been sending the U.S. stock market on big, scary swings not just day to day but also hour to hour.
The heaviest uncertainty lies with U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. There, the question is how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants. The president has said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States, along with a smaller U.S. government workforce and other fundamental changes.
U.S. households and businesses have already reported drops in confidence because of uncertainty about which tariffs will stick from Trump’s barrage of on -again, off -again announcements. That’s raised fears about a pullback in spending that could sap energy from the economy.
Worries look to be only worsening among U.S. households, according to a preliminary survey released Friday by the University of Michigan. Its measure of consumer sentiment sank for a third straight month, mostly because of concerns about the future rather than complaints about the present. The job market and overall economy look relatively solid at the moment.
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“Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors,” according to Joanne Hsu, direct of the survey, and “frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future, regardless of one’s policy preferences.”
Consumers are bracing for higher inflation in the future, with expectations for the long term jumping to 3.9 per cent from last month’s prediction of 3.5 per cent. That’s the biggest month-over-month jump since 1993.
Such fears have Wall Street focused on whether companies are seeing the sour mood of consumers translating into real pain for their businesses.
Ulta Beauty jumped 8.7 per cent after the beauty products retailer reported stronger profit for the latest quarter. The company’s forecasts for upcoming revenue and profit fell short of analysts’ targets, but Chief Financial Officer Paula Oyibo said it wanted to be cautious “as we navigate ongoing consumer uncertainty.” Analysts said the forecasts appeared better than feared.
Gains for Big Tech stocks and companies in the artificial-intelligence industry also helped support the market. Such stocks have been under the most pressure in the recent sell-off after critics said their prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI.
Nvidia rose 3.1 per cent to trim its loss for 2025 so far to 11.2 per cent.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
Stocks jumped 2.1 per cent in Hong Kong and 1.8 per cent in Shanghai after China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice ordering financial institutions to help develop consumer finance and encourage use of credit cards, do more to aid borrowers who run into trouble, and be more transparent in their lending practices.
Economists say China needs consumers to spend more to get the economy out of its doldrums, although most have advocated broader, more fundamental reforms such as increasing wages, social welfare and support for public health and education.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose to recover some of their sharp recent losses. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.29 per cent from 4.27 per cent late Thursday and from 4.16 per cent at the start of last week.
Yields have been swinging since January, when they were approaching 4.80 per cent. When worries worsen about the U.S. economy’s strength, yields have fallen. When those worries lessen, or when concerns about inflation rise, yields have climbed.
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