The U.S. stock market roared back on Friday, as technology stocks recovered much of their losses from earlier in the week and bitcoin halted its plunge, at least for now.
Even with Friday’s surge, the S&P 500 still fell to its third losing week in the last four. Besides worries about spending by Big Tech companies, which are Wall Street’s most influential stocks, concerns about AI potentially stealing customers from software companies also hurt the market. Software stocks got hit particularly hard after AI firm Anthropic released free tools to automate things like legal services.
Prices in the metals market also calmed a bit following their own wild swings. Gold rose 1.8% to settle at $4,979.80 per ounce, while silver added 0.2%.
Their prices suddenly ran out of momentum last week following jaw-dropping rallies, which were driven by investors clamoring for something safe to own amid worries about political turmoil, a U.S. stock market that critics called expensive and huge debt loads for governments worldwide. By January, prices for gold and silver were surging so quickly that critics called it unsustainable.
Stocks of smaller U.S. companies also helped lead the market, along with companies whose profits depend on U.S. households spending more money. They benefited from potentially encouraging data on how U.S. consumers are feeling.
A preliminary report from the University of Michigan suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is improving slightly, when economists were expecting to see a drop. The improvement was strongest among households that own stocks, which are benefiting from the S&P 500 setting a record late last month.
To be sure, sentiment “remained at dismal levels for consumers without stock holdings,” according to Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu.
The smaller stocks in the Russell 2000 index jumped 3.6%, well above the S&P 500’s gain. Smaller companies’ profits can be more dependent on the strength of the U.S. economy than those for big, multinational rivals.
All told, the S&P 500 jumped 133.90 points to 6,932.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1,206.95 to 50,115.67, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 490.63 to 23,031.21.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.20% from 4.21% late Thursday.
