US close: Stocks higher after volatile week, JPMorgan jumps
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Friday 11 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - US stocks ended Friday's session with strong gains, capping off one of the most volatile weeks for Wall Street in recent history, as the sporadic nature of Donald Trump's trade policies continued to steer market sentiment.
The Dow gained 1.6% to 40,213, the S&P 500 rose 1.8% to 5,363, while the Nasdaq jumped 2.1% to 16,725.
Despite the (shaky) comeback experienced over the past five days, the three indices each still remain around 5% below levels seen before Trump's sweeping tariff barrage came into force on 2 April.
"It's been a volatile couple of weeks for markets with the declines since the so-called tariff 'Liberation Day' punctuated with sharp rallies as markets react to tariff talk on both sides of the globe," said analyst Michael Hewson from MCH Market Insights.
Tariffs remained in focus on Friday after Donald Trump paused his country-specific tariffs for 90 days, instead implementing a universal rate of 10%, with the notable exception of China which he slapped with a 145% levy.
China then retaliated by raising duties on US products to 125% from 84%. The Commerce Ministry announced the increase saying the country was ready to "fight to the end". It added that "at the current tariff level, there is no market acceptance for US goods exported to China".
However, the European Union, which had been planning retaliatory measures of its own, had on Thursday paused countermeasures for 90 days. "We want to give negotiations a chance," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Hewson said Trump's 90-day pause "appears to have been in response to sharp moves in the Treasury market which has seen longer term yields spike higher".
He added: "Even now there is little sign of a slowdown in this upward pressure on yields while the US dollar has sunk to a three-year low, as investors lighten their exposure to US assets, as confidence in its haven status comes under scrutiny in the wake of recent market turmoil."
US data in focus
Consumer confidence in the US worsened again as short-term inflation expectations hit their highest level in nearly half a century. The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index slipped from 57.0 at the end of March to 50.8, missing forecasts for a print of 54.5.
Meanwhile, wholesale prices in the States undershot market forecasts last month, partly as a result of a decline in energy costs. According to the Department of Labor, so-called final demand prices dropped at a month-on-month pace of 0.4% in March (consensus: 0.2%).
Bank earnings kick off
Shares in JPMorgan gained after the bank reported solid growth on both its top and bottom lines for the first quarter. Net income for the three months ending on 31 March jumped by 9% to reach approximately $14.64bn, with earnings per share coming in at $5.07 (consensus: $4.57), while net revenues rose 8% to $45.13bn.
Nonetheless, its boss, Jamie Dimon, noted the multiple headwinds that JPMorgan might face. "The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics), with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and trade wars, ongoing sticky inflation, high fiscal deficits and still rather high asset prices and volatility," he said.
Sector peers Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all edged higher, while Wells Fargo finished in the red.
Automaker GM slipped after saying it would suspend production and lay off 500 workers at its EV plant in Ontario starting from next week.
EV giant Tesla also declined after Cox Automotive reported that, despite a 10.6% year-on-year jump in EV sales across the US in the first quarter, Tesla sales were down 8.6%.
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