US stocks rose on Friday, poised for weekly wins after an easing in US-China trade tensions. Investors also eyed President Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, which failed to clear a key hurdle Friday, as consumer confidence sank.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved up 0.5%, coming off a fourth straight day of gains for the broad benchmark. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also gained nearly 0.3%
Wall Street is ending the week on a quietly positive note after the surprise US-China tariff rollback kicked it off with a bang and a rally in stocks.
The S&P 500 is now on track for a five-day win streak, having erased all its 2025 losses as an air of normality returned to the market. Investors have jumped back into risky assets, though some wariness has replaced those high spirits in the wake of Walmart’s (WMT) warning of tariff-fueled price hikes.
Consumer sentiment fell in May as Americans grew more pessimistic about the inflation outlook, the latest University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey showed on Friday. The index came in at 50.8, its second-lowest reading on record, down from 52.2 for April. One-year inflation expectations jumped to 7.8%, the highest since 1981.
Meanwhile, markets are staying vigilant for the next major development in Trump’s trade push, with a focus on fresh deals and hints of shifts in the thaw with China. The president said Friday that the US “will be sending letters out essentially telling” countries the tariff rate set for their imports within the coming weeks. His administration can’t negotiate deals with all partners at once due to limited capacity.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Also in focus was the vote on Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill and the complex negotiations around it. Despite Trump’s calls for unity this morning, Republicans voted to oppose the bill, which promises big tax cuts seen as likely positive for the economy, delivering a setback to its progress.
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