To The Moon

Wall Street ends whipsaw week sharply higher as Fed comments soothe market

$S&P 500(.SPX)$  $DJIA(.DJI)$  $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$  $Nasdaq 100 Trust(QQQ)$  $Alphabet(GOOGL)$  $Amazon.com(AMZN)$  $Nasdaq 100 Trust(QQQ)$  

Summary

Companies

Big banks launch first-quarter earnings season

White House says Trump open to China tariff negotiations

All 3 major US stock indexes notch weekly gains

Indexes up: Dow 1.56%, S&P 500 1.81%, Nasdaq 1.63%

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - Wall Street posted solid gains on Friday as big banks kicked off first-quarter earnings season and investors closed the book on a turbulent week of wild swings driven by the chaos of U.S. President Donald Trump's multi-front trade war.

All three major U.S. indexes ended the session sharply higher after assurances from Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins that the Fed is prepared to keep financial markets functioning should the need arise.

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All three indexes posted gains from last Friday's close. Stocks were whipsawed throughout the week by a tariff reprieve on European goods and a tit-for-tat escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China. One sign of the volatility: the difference between the weekly high and weekly low for the S&P500 was the widest since late March 2020 when much of the world was locked down during the pandemic.

The S&P 500 and the Dow notched their largest weekly percentage gains since November 2023, while the Nasdaq registered its biggest weekly percentage advance since November 2022.

"Investors are in the midst of this tug of war looking for some positive signs that the uncertainty that's really been plaguing the market will subside," said Greg Bassuk, Chief Executive Officer at AXS Investments in New York.

"Uncertainty and volatility is the new investor narrative," Bassuk added. "The table is set for more volatility ahead and this week's roller coaster ride could be just foreshadowing for what's ahead."

Beijing retaliated to Trump's recent hike of tariffs to an effective rate of 145%. The trade war has caused wild intraday market swings and driven consumers' near-term inflation expectations to their hottest level since 1981.

First-quarter reporting period got off to a solid start. JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab, Morgan Stanley (MS.N), opens new tab and Wells Fargo (WFC.N), opens new tab all reported better-than-expected profits, but warnings of a potential economic slowdown due to trade disputes dampened enthusiasm for the sector.

Analysts currently expect aggregate S&P 500 earnings growth of 8.0% for the first three months of the year, less optimistic than the 12.2% growth predicted at the beginning of the quarter, according to LSEG data.