Stocks were little changed on Friday following a three-day winning streak on Wall Street as investors weigh earnings from a major tech company and lingering trade fears.
Sentiment was hurt a bit Friday after comments from President Donald Trump were published by Time magazine. The president said he would consider it a “total victory” if the U.S. has high tariffs of 20% to 50% on foreign countries a year from now. Trump also denied that rising yields forced his hand in granting a 90-day pause on most of the higher tariff rates.
To be sure, the president also said announcements of many trade deals would be coming “over the next three to four weeks.”
“The bond market was getting the yips, but I wasn’t,” said Trump in the interview from Tuesday that was published Friday.
The moves come after what has been a solid weekly performance for the market. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 3.8% and 5.4% this week, respectively. The Dow has climbed 2%.
But stocks have been in a wide trading range following the initial shock of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs announcement on April 2 as investors await clarity on negotiations with key trading partners such as China. That country revealed Thursday that there were no ongoing discussions on tariffs.
That followed the White House signaling earlier this week that it may ease its stance on China tariffs, which sit at a total of 145% on imports from the country. On Tuesday, Trump said that the tariff rate will “come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”
“I think that really all the market needed was just a little spark to kind of move it off some of these depressed levels, and I think that’s what we’re seeing,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise. “I think we’re still in for a period of choppiness around stock trading, and I think heading into next week, it’s really going to be the big tech earnings that are going to really influence where the major averages go.”
Investors also kept an eye on corporate earnings.
Alphabet jumped about 4% after the Google-parent and “Magnificent Seven” name reported a beat on the top and the bottom line for the first quarter. By contrast, Intel fell 9% after offering disappointing guidance and revealing that it plans to slash operational and capital expenses.
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