It was one of the most turbulent weeks Wall Street has seen in years—but markets closed Friday on a high, with all three major indices finishing the week in positive territory.
The Dow Jones surged 619 points, or 1.56%, to 40,212. The S&P 500 climbed 1.8%, and the Nasdaq rallied more than 2%, capping a dramatic rebound. Over the week, the S&P added 5.7%—its strongest since late 2023—while the Nasdaq jumped 7.3% and the Dow gained nearly 5%.
The late-week rally came after the White House said President Trump was “optimistic” about reaching a deal with China. It followed days of extreme swings. On Wednesday, the S&P surged nearly 10% after Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for U.S. allies. But that optimism faded on Thursday, as trade war jitters returned and markets tumbled ahead of an expected Chinese response. The official retaliation came Friday, when Beijing raised tariffs on American goods to 125%—a move that underscored how far the standoff had escalated.
Tech relief and tariff chaos
Adding to the volatility, the Trump administration on Friday announced a temporary exemption for smartphones, laptops and semiconductors from its sweeping new tariffs—offering short-term relief to companies like Apple and Nvidia. But the Commerce Secretary has warned new chip tariffs are still coming.
Even with the bounce, the S&P 500 remains down more than 5% for the month.
The week ahead
Looking forward, investors will be watching U.S. retail sales on Wednesday and housing data on Thursday. Fed officials including Mary Daly and Raphael Bostic are scheduled to speak, and markets will be parsing every word for signals on rates.
In Australia, the focus will be Thursday’s jobs data—where any surprise could shift expectations for the RBA.
Commodities and the dollar
West Texas Intermediate crude is trading 2.38% higher at US$61.50 a barrel.
Spot gold is trading 1.93% higher at US$3,237.61 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 63.04 US cents.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to an 18 point rise.
