US markets rose yesterday, rebounding from early declines after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was “in a good place,” but uncertainty about US trade policy led to Wall Street’s biggest weekly decline in months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 223 points, or 0.5 percent, to 42,802. The S&P 500 gained 32 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,770. And the Nasdaq Composite gained 127 points, or 0.7 percent, to 18,196. For the week, the S&P 500 declined 3.1 percent, the Nasdaq declined 3.5 percent, and the Dow fell 2.4 percent. The S&P 500 finished with its biggest weekly loss since September. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also registered their third straight week of declines, the longest losing streak since mid-July last year.
Fed Chairman Powell said the central bank will not be quick to cut interest rates and echoed concerns about President Donald Trump’s policies. Stocks fell in choppy early trade but rebounded after Powell’s comments.
Data early on Friday showed US job growth picked up in February. However, thousands of recent firings of federal workers were not reflected in the data. Hewlett Packard Enterprise slumped 12% after saying its annual profit forecast would be hit by US tariffs.