Stocks rebounded on Friday as investors shopped for bargains at the end of a tumultuous week in which President Trump’s escalating trade war fueled recession fears and doused risk appetite.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 674.62 points, or 1.7%, to 41,488.19. The S&P 500 gained 2.1% and the Nasdaq climbed 451 points, or 2.6%.

Every one of the so-called Magnificent 7 artificial intelligence-related momentum stocks was in positive territory, although six of them remain down on the year.


  The Dow rose more than 650 points, or 1.7%, on Friday, but was down 3.1% for the week. AFP via Getty Images The Dow rose more than 650 points, or 1.7%, on Friday, but was down 3.1% for the week. AFP via Getty Images

“There’s a lot of excitement over all of the AI-related developments in technology and I expect that it’s going to continue,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital, in St. Louis, Missouri.

“Those stocks have been underperforming – especially in the last month because of this flight to safety.”

Still, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq recorded for their fourth straight weekly losses. The Dow tumbled 3.1% for the week, its largest weekly percentage drop March 2023.

Encouraging inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday was overshadowed this week by mounting uncertainties arising from Trump’s chaotic policies, including quotidian tariff threats against the biggest US trading partners.


  Encouraging inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday was overshadowed this week by mounting uncertainties arising from President Trump’s chaotic policies. ZUMAPRESS.com Encouraging inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday was overshadowed this week by mounting uncertainties arising from President Trump’s chaotic policies. ZUMAPRESS.com

Those uncertainties sent investors fleeing from equities in favor of safe-haven assets, lifting gold prices past the $3,000 per ounce level for the first time ever.

“The market doesn’t like the tariff stuff, the added uncertainty that keeps them from planning and making decisions,” Ellerbroek added. “Trump is … wreaking havoc, with his advisors talking about detox, about how maybe a recession is coming, maybe not. It’s unsettling, indecisive, it’s bad for the economy and bad for the stock market.”

Those anxieties were laid bare by a dire report from the University of Michigan, which showed consumer sentiment plummeting to its most pessimistic level in nearly two years and one-year inflation expectations spiking to 4.9%.


  Uncertainties sent investors fleeing from equities in favor of safe-haven assets, lifting gold prices past the $3,000 per ounce level for the first time ever. Getty Images Uncertainties sent investors fleeing from equities in favor of safe-haven assets, lifting gold prices past the $3,000 per ounce level for the first time ever. Getty Images

The report echoes other recent downbeat survey data, including a Reuters/Ipsos poll of Americans conducted March 11-12 that showed 57% of survey participants believe Trump’s policies will do more harm than good.

Tesla rose 3.9% following a report on the electric vehicle maker’s plans to make a lower-cost version of its best-selling Model Y in Shanghai, aiming to regain ground lost during a price war in its second-largest market.

Nvidia’s shares gained 5.3% ahead of next week’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC), which is expected to culminate in a hotly anticipated keynote address from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

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