By Sruthi Shankar and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes advanced on Friday, as signs of a de-escalation in the trade war with China and a strong jobs report calmed concerns around the economic toll of tariffs.
Beijing said on Friday it was “evaluating” an offer from Washington to hold talks over U.S. President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on China.
The tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two largest economies have kept investors on edge, with both sides unwilling to be seen backing down in a trade war that has roiled global markets.
Further aiding the mood on Friday, data showed nonfarm payrolls increased more than expected in April, with the unemployment rate steady at 4.2%.
“This is good employment data which suggests that the economy remains strong,” said Melissa Brown, managing director of investment decision research at Simcorp.
“We could see these numbers go down as the impact of tariffs really starts to make its way through the economy, but it’s not there yet.”
At 09:44 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 450.30 points, or 1.10%, to 41,203.26, the S&P 500 gained 59.98 points, or 1.07%, to 5,664.12 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 162.22 points, or 0.92%, to 17,873.64.
All indexes were set for weekly gains.
Most chip stocks jumped, sending the broader index up 3%. Megacaps also gained, barring Apple and Amazon.com
Limiting gains on the information technology sector, Apple slipped 4.6% after the iPhone maker trimmed its share buyback program by $10 billion and CEO Tim Cook told analysts that tariffs could add about $900 million in costs this quarter.
“Apple claimed the sort of earnings beat that was never likely to win much favor… at a time when its products business is fraught with uncertainty, it’s not great that growth on the services side has disappointed,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
Amazon.com was down marginally after it forecast second-quarter operating income below estimates.
Trump’s reversal of some tariffs has helped U.S. stock indexes recover from recent losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was trading at levels last seen before April 2, dubbed “Liberation Day”, when the president unveiled massive global tariffs.
Despite signs of reprieve on the trade front, the erratic changes in U.S. tariff policies have forced some companies to warn of business impacts or pull earnings forecasts amid worries of higher costs and a hit to economic growth.
Oil giant Chevron was up marginally, while Exxon Mobil slipped after its results.
Block slumped more than 22% after cutting its profit forecast for 2025 and missing estimates for quarterly earnings.
Airbnb dipped 2.2% after the vacation rental platform forecast second-quarter revenue largely below Wall Street estimates and signaled softening demand in the U.S.
Videogame maker Take-Two Interactive fell 7.3% after it delayed the release of “Grand Theft Auto VI” to May 2026.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.73-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 3.78-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 7 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 15 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
