New York [US], April 26: U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, extending strong weekly gains as investors continued to assess a shifting global trade environment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.10 points, or 0.05 percent, to 40,113.5. The S&P 500 added 40.44 points, or 0.74 percent, to 5,525.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 216.90 points, or 1.26 percent, to 17,382.94.
Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with materials and financials leading the laggards by losing 0.73 percent and 0.42 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumer discretionary and technology led the gainers by going up 1.96 percent and 1.62 percent, respectively.
Consumer sentiment fell sharply in April, dropping 8 percent from the previous month to a final reading of 52.2, according to the latest University of Michigan survey released Friday. While the decline was steep, it was slightly less severe than the preliminary estimate earlier this month, which did not account for U.S. President Donald Trump's April 9 announcement of a 90-day delay on new tariffs.
"While this month's deterioration was particularly strong for middle-income families, expectations worsened for vast swaths of the population across age, education, income, and political affiliation," Joanne Hsu, the survey's director, said in a release. "Consumers perceived risks to multiple aspects of the economy, in large part due to ongoing uncertainty around trade policy and the potential for a resurgence of inflation looming ahead."
Time magazine on Friday published comments from Trump suggesting he would consider it a "total victory" if the United States imposed tariffs of 20 percent to 50 percent on imports within a year. However, in the same set of comments made Tuesday, he also predicted a wave of trade deal announcements in the next three to four weeks.
Later on Friday, speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump reiterated he would not lift tariffs on China unless "they give us something." He also told reporters outside the White House that "trade deals are going very well," and "We're very close to a deal" on tariffs with Japan.
On the corporate front, Alphabet gained 1.47 percent after the Google parent reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter after market later Thursday. Tesla surged nearly 10 percent, while two other "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, Nvidia and Meta Platforms, rose by 4.3 percent and 2.65 percent, respectively.
Despite the mixed signals, Jay Hatfield, founder and CEO of InfraCap, expressed optimism that the worst phase of tariff-related uncertainty may be behind. "The confusion about whether there's really talks going on with China or not took some steam out of the market," he told CNBC in an interview. "Our view is that we've reached peak tariff tantrum and so it's likely to be more positive than negative."
In other tech news, Intel tumbled 6.7 percent after posting a quarterly loss and warning that ongoing trade tensions would increase its costs and potentially dampen investment. Looking ahead, several "Magnificent Seven" firms, including Amazon, Apple, and Meta Platforms, are slated to report earnings next week.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
