Stock market today: Live updates

Stocks rallied Friday, clawing back some of the steep losses seen this week, as investors got a reprieve from tariff-related headlines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 626 points higher, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 climbed 1.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.3%.

Nvidia shares popped more than 4%. Tesla and Meta Platforms gained more than 1% along with Netflix, Amazon and Apple.

Stocks bounced after a lack of new headlines out of the White House related to tariffs, easing concerns around escalating tensions for the time being. Investors might also be scooping up shares after a stock market pullback on Thursday.

A 1.4% drop on Thursday dragged the S&P 500 down 10.1% from its record close notched last month, just 16 trading days ago, bringing it officially into a correction. This is defined as a decline of at least 10% from a recent high. The 30-stock Dow and Nasdaq slid 1.3% and about 2%, respectively, in the session.

With Thursday’s decline, the Nasdaq fell further into correction territory and is now down more than 9% this year. The small cap-focused Russell 2000 has dropped around 18% from its recent high, meaning it’s closing in on a bear market, or a drawdown of 20%.

That marks another milestone in the pullback that has gripped investors over the past three weeks as President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again tariff policy drove up uncertainty and market volatility. All three major indexes have dropped more than 4% this week.

The Dow is on track for its second straight losing week and worst weekly decline since March 2023. This would be the fourth negative week in a row for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

Adding to Friday’s positive sentiment was Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., saying he wouldn’t block a Republican government funding bill.

However, data released Friday from the University of Michigan confirmed that consumer confidence has suffered from the ongoing tariff-related uncertainty, worries that have driven the market down the last three weeks. Consumer sentiment dropped in March to 57.9, lower than the 63.2 economists polled by Dow Jones had expected.

“Consumer sentiment came in worse, inflation expectations are rising, the 10 year Treasury yield is rising. You would think that the market would be off. So a lot of folks are watching to see if this rally has any breadth or legs,” said Thomas Martin, portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.

Investors are gearing up for the Federal Reserve policy meeting scheduled for next week, where fed funds futures are pricing in a 97% likelihood of interest rates holding steady, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

“What we would like to see is rates not go up, because that would be an indication that the Fed is losing control. If the Fed says they’re cutting and rates go up, that’s a lack of confidence,” Martin added.