NEW YORK/ LONDON :U.S. equities followed European stocks higher on Friday to end a bumpy week on a positive note, although safe-haven gold hit a record high with investors still showing some signs of anxiety about the economic impact of tariffs.
German government bond yields and the euro rose on Friday, with German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz saying he had secured crucial backing from the Greens for a massive increase in state borrowing.
Germany’s news helped boost U.S. Treasury yields, according to Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers, who also attributed equity gains on Friday to the S&P 500 confirming it was in a correction on Thursday.
“It’s been a sharp decline from the highs in mid-February,” said Melson.
“You’re seeing some signs of it at least getting an intermediate low and a little bit of a relief rally,” he said. “There’s not really anything meaningful in the way of news to really drive a rally other than just the technicals.”
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 674.62 points, or 1.65 per cent, at 41,488.19 while the S&P 500 rose 117.42 points, or 2.13 per cent, to 5,638.94 for its biggest one-day percentage gain since Nov. 6, the day after the U.S. election.
The benchmark S&P index had finished Thursday more than 10 per cent below its February record close after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 200 per cent tariff on European wine and spirit imports, the latest trade war escalation after Europe retaliated against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Last week the Nasdaq confirmed it was in a correction, driven lower by tariff and growth uncertainties as well as high valuations for megacap tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 451.07 points, or 2.61 per cent at 17,754.09 on Friday, for its biggest daily gain since November 6.
MSCI’s broadest gauge of global stocks rose 14.73 points, or 1.79 per cent, to 836.32 on Friday, but still showed its biggest weekly fall since December.
Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 1.14 per cent.
Spot gold breached $3,000 an ounce for the first time in early London trading, before losing ground to last trade down 0.17 per cent to $2,982.72 an ounce. The precious metal is still up close to 14 per cent year-to-date, as trade wars and growth worries boost its safe-haven appeal.
In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark German 10-year Bunds was last at 2.876 per cent after earlier rising as high as 2.936 per cent.
U.S. Treasury yields rose as the stock market recovery reduced safe-haven demand for U.S. government debt.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 4.2 basis points to 4.318 per cent, from 4.276 per cent late on Thursday, while the 30-year bond yield rose 2.9 basis points to 4.6248 per cent.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 7 basis points to 4.023 per cent, from 3.953 per cent late on Thursday.
“What you’ve had over the past week or two is a repricing of what’s called the Trump put lower for equities, while at the same time, understanding that tariffs are probably here to stay in some form and aren’t just a negotiating tactic,” said Zachary Griffiths, senior strategist at CreditSights.
In currencies, the euro gained broadly on optimism about Germany. Against the dollar, the euro was up 0.28 per cent at $1.0882 while against the pound it gained 0.44 per cent and rose 0.63 per cent against the Swiss franc.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.55 per cent to 148.62. Against the Swiss franc, the greenback strengthened 0.33 per cent to 0.885, supported by hopes the U.S. government would avoid a shutdown over the weekend.
Oil prices rebounded 1 per cent to end the week nearly unchanged as investors weighed the diminishing prospects of a quick end to the Ukraine war that could bring back more Russian energy supplies to Western markets.
Brent crude futures settled 70 cents, or 1 per cent, higher at $70.58 a barrel, after falling 1.5 per cent in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $67.18 a barrel, up 63 cents, or 1 per cent, after losing 1.7 per cent on Thursday.
Earlier in Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan had closed up almost 1 per cent but lost almost 1.5 per cent for the week.
