U.S. stocks climbed on Friday amid signs the federal government may avert a shutdown, recovering some of the losses suffered during an escalating trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 675 points, or 1.65%, while the S&P 500 increased 2.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.6%.
Despite the gains, each of the major indexes posted losses for the week.
Stocks To Watch | 📊Ready, set, trade! Keep an eye on these stocks as they set the market abuzz #StockMarket pic.twitter.com/3aMudk34nN
— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) March 17, 2025
The market upswing comes after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday night that he plans to vote to keep the government open, signaling that there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance a House GOP funding bill before a shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday. The gains offered relief for investors reeling from a market decline set off last week by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
From the @WSJ article, “The Week the Smart Money Got Whipsawed by the Market: Hedge funds usually like to take advantage of stock-market unrest. Lately, they have helped spread it instead.”#markets pic.twitter.com/SFYAtfBcVe
— Mohamed A. El-Erian (@elerianm) March 15, 2025
On Thursday, the S&P 500 closed down more than 10% since a peak attained last month, meaning the decline officially qualified as a market correction. It marked the index’s first correction since October 2023.
Stocks rally amid shutdown relief
Gold futures also hit a new record Friday morning, trading at $3,016.30, breaking the $3,000 mark for the first time. Gold is a traditional safe haven investment for times of political and economic tumult. Trump on Thursday stood firm on his tariff policy, despite the losses on Wall Street.
“I’m not going to bend at all,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. When asked whether he would reconsider a fresh round of tariffs set to go into effect on April 2, Trump offered a one-word reply: “No.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each closed down more than 1% on Thursday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined nearly 2%.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Image Credits: Photo by Ayadi Ghaith on Unsplash
