Wall Street stocks ended another tumultuous week with a brisk late rally as a top Federal Reserve official said the US central bank was prepared to intervene if strains in markets grew, and traders remained fixated on tariffs.
The blue-chip S&P 500 rose 1.8 per cent on Friday, bringing its gains for the week to 5.7 per cent — its best weekly rise since November 2023. Still, it is down 4.4 per cent this month.
Donald Trump’s abrupt swerves on tariffs drove intense volatility in markets this week. The US president’s decision on Wednesday to pause big “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries besides China sent the S&P 500 surging 9.5 per cent in its best day since 2008.