US stocks add to weekly gains amid trade deal optimism
Matthew Cheslock, left, and Anthony Confusione work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
NEW YORK, United States — Wall Street stocks rose again Friday, adding to weekly gains. Deescalation of the China-US trade war and hopes for additional international trade deals fueled such gains.
Equity markets have enjoyed one of their best weeks since US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff bazooka last month caused indices to slump.
FHN Financial’s Chris Low also pointed to a “growing sense of relief” over benign US inflation data. This has helped counter worries that Trump’s tariffs will dramatically reignite pricing pressure.
The United States and China on Monday announced they would slash their tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks. However, considerable levies remain in place.
Investors are now awaiting signals from the US president on progress in trade talks as countries seek deals to avoid his steeper levies, as well as more information about their economic impact.
READ: US-China truce yet to soothe trade jitters
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.8 percent higher at 42,654.74.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to 5,958.38. Meanwhile, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.5 percent to 19,211.10.
Low also cited worries about the fate of Trump’s fiscal and budget legislation in Washington.
The process on Capitol Hill is “by all accounts not going very well,” Low said.
Among individual companies, Take-Two Interactive fell 2.4 percent after announcing $3.55 billion in one-time costs. This was connected to the delay of the launch of its new “Grand Theft Auto” video game. The game developer recently pushed back the timeframe on the unveiling to May 2026.
Applied Materials dropped 5.3 percent following disappointment with the semiconductor company’s outlook.
But UnitedHealth gained 6.4 percent in a partial rebound from Thursday’s big decline. This was over a news report about a criminal probe into the health giant.
