The stock market rose on Friday for a fifth session and posted a sharp weekly gain, as investors looked past the release of disappointing consumer sentiment data and persistent inflation worries. The S&P 500 climbed 0.70% to end at 5,958.38, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.52% to close at 19,211.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 331.99 points, or 0.78%, settling at 42,654.74.
Friday’s advance put the 30-stock benchmark into positive territory for 2025. For the week, the S&P 500 surged 5.3%, the Dow gained 3.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 7.2%.
Technology stocks also had a strong week; shares of several major tech companies saw significant gains. Stocks have made a strong comeback since U.S. and Chinese officials agreed on a 90-day truce in their tariff measures earlier this week, which eased investors’ fears of escalating global trade tensions and the rising economic risk. “Markets are repricing the stagflation risk right now — what was once the base case for folks who were sure that tariffs were going to shoot inflation skyward immediately really hasn’t been supported in the data,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.
“The U.S. consumer may say he/she is worried, but they aren’t spending like they are. Consumption trumps all once you filter out all the noise.”
Wall Street also hopes for more clarity on the trade front in the weeks ahead. President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration will send letters to many countries detailing new tariff rates, possibly over the next two to three weeks.
Stocks closed higher on Friday, marking the end of a strong week that saw investors return to risk assets, pushing the S&P 500 into the green for the year.
Wall Street buoyed by trade truce
The broad market index advanced 0.70% to close at 5,958.38, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.52% to 19,211.10.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 331.99 points, or 0.78%, to finish the session at 42,654.74. Virgin Galactic shares rose 42% on Friday after the spaceflight company, founded by Richard Branson, reported a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss. The company also planned its first spaceflight with the new SpaceShip, carrying research payloads for the summer of 2026, followed by private astronaut spaceflights slated for the fall of 2026.
Shares of Novo Nordisk were down nearly 4% after the company announced the ouster of CEO Lars Fruergaard. While the company searches for his replacement, analyst Evan David Seigerman from BMO Capital Markets warned that replacing the CEO might not fix the company’s strategic issues. Novo Nordisk has faced challenges with its GLP-1 drugs to treat diabetes and obesity, competing with rivals who have seen a rise in prescriptions for similar treatments.
Coinbase shares jumped more than 9% on Friday, recovering from the previous session’s losses. Analysts from Oppenheimer, Barclays, and Cantor Fitzgerald said that the SEC probe into the company is not significant. Galaxy Digital started trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker GLXY.
The company’s value now hinges on high-growth areas like AI and institutional adoption of crypto. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 50.8 in May, down from 52.2 in April. Year-ahead inflation expectations advanced to 7.3% from 6.5%.
