Wall Street Drifts as Stocks Near the End of Big Winning Week/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ U.S. stocks inched higher Friday, with the S&P 500 aiming for a fifth straight gain and a strong weekly finish. Optimism over President Trump’s potential tariff rollbacks and cooling inflation has fueled the rally. Treasury yields eased, and merger news added to a calm but cautiously upbeat market mood.
Wall Street Nears Strong Weekly Finish: Quick Looks
- S&P 500 rose 0.1% early Friday, aiming for its fifth straight gain.
- Index is up 4.6% for the week, nearing its all-time high set in February.
- Dow dipped 52 points, while the Nasdaq rose 0.2% in morning trading.
- Investors hopeful Trump will ease tariffs, boosting market sentiment.
- Recent inflation reports came in better than expected, easing rate hike fears.
- 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 4.39%, its lowest this week.
- Charter and Cox Communications announced a merger, with Charter shares up 1.3%.
- Novo Nordisk shares slid 1.8% after CEO exit announcement amid “market challenges.”
- Tokyo’s Nikkei fell after weak GDP data, with global markets mostly mixed.
- Consumer sentiment data due later Friday, amid rising trade war anxiety.
Wall Street Drifts as Stocks Near the End of Big Winning Week
Deep Look
U.S. markets edged higher Friday morning, closing in on the finish line of a strong week fueled by growing investor confidence in easing trade tensions and improving inflation data. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, putting it on pace for its fifth consecutive daily gain and a 4.6% weekly surge — its third strong weekly performance in the last month.
The S&P’s recent rally brings it within 3.6% of its all-time high, reached in February, before Trump’s tariff-heavy trade strategy rattled global markets and briefly pushed the index down 20%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 52 points (0.1%), while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2%, as investors weighed mixed corporate news and awaited fresh data on consumer sentiment.
Tariff Hopes, Inflation Cool-Off Fuel Gains
Markets are moving higher on optimism that President Trump’s administration may ease trade tariffs, following breakthroughs in negotiations with key trading partners. These expectations have lifted stocks after months of volatility caused by Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff rollout, which has pressured global supply chains, spiked input costs, and fueled inflation fears.
Adding to the optimism were better-than-expected inflation readings earlier this week, which gave investors hope that the Federal Reserve may have room to cut interest rates later this year if tariffs weigh down growth.
Bond Yields Fall, Encouraging Stocks
As inflation fears cooled, Treasury yields eased, signaling investor confidence that interest rate cuts could be on the table. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.39%, down from 4.45% Thursday and over 4.50% earlier in the week. Falling yields make stocks and other risk assets more attractive to investors seeking higher returns.
Lower yields also tend to reduce borrowing costs for businesses and households, potentially spurring economic activity in the face of trade-related headwinds.
Corporate Moves and Market Movers
Among individual stocks, Charter Communications jumped 1.3% after announcing a high-profile merger with Cox Communications, forming a cable behemoth that will retain the Cox brand and Charter’s Stamford, Connecticut headquarters.
On the downside, Novo Nordisk’s U.S.-listed shares fell 1.8% after the company announced that longtime CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen would step down. The Danish pharmaceutical giant, known for its blockbuster Wegovy weight-loss drug, cited “recent market challenges” as it seeks new leadership.
Global Markets Mixed
Overseas, stock markets were largely mixed, with modest gains and losses across Asia and Europe. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 edged down less than 0.1%, following data that showed the Japanese economy contracted more sharply than expected in Q1.
European indices opened flat to slightly positive as investors absorbed trade developments and regional earnings.
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