Wall Street Rebounds, JPMorgan Jumps On Strong Q1 Earnings: What's Driving Markets Friday?

Wall Street regained momentum, reversing early-session losses and pushing major indexes into positive territory by midday trading in New York, as investors welcomed upbeat bank earnings and cooler-than-expected inflation data, while largely shrugging off trade war concerns after China raised tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.

Producer prices cooled to 2.7% year-over-year in March, well below the 3.3% consensus, while the monthly figure declined by 0.4% — the steepest drop since 2023.

A day earlier, consumer prices also eased more than expected. However, both inflation reports predate the implementation of new trade tariffs. The University of Michigan's latest consumer sentiment index fell sharply to 50.4, its lowest since June 2022 and below expectations.

Meanwhile, inflation expectations surged: short-term projections hit their highest since 1990, and long-term views reached levels last seen in 1981, underscoring growing concerns over persistent price pressures. In the bond market, the 30-year Treasury yield retreated to 4.90% after briefly touching 4.99% during intraday trading.

The dollar pared some losses, though it remained near its lowest level since April 2022, based on a trade-weighted index.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM topped first-quarter earnings estimates and issued upbeat guidance, lifting its shares nearly 3% and outpacing peers.

Gold prices extended their rally, jumping 1.9% to a record $3,230 per ounce — poised for their strongest weekly gain since March 2020. The surge in bullion and silver — with the latter rising over 3% on Friday — sparked strong gains in mining stocks.

The VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX soared 5.5% on Friday and nearly 20% for the week, heading for its highest level since December 2012.

Newmont Corp. NEM, the world's largest gold miner, jumped 9% on the day and 25% on the week, marking its best weekly performance since 1998.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %
Nasdaq 100	18,623.30	1.5%
S&P 500	5,333.87	1.2%
Dow Jones	40,056.72	1.2%
Russell 2000	1,838.01	0.4%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rallied 1.3% to $531.82.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 1.2% to $400.45.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ soared 1.5% to $452.67.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 0.4% to $182.36.
• The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLB outperformed, up 2.3%; the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY lagged, down 0.1%.

S&P 500’s Top 5 Performers On Friday

Company Name	% Change
Newmont Corp.	+8.73%
Monolithic Power Systems Inc. MPWR	+7.55%
Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. HII	+6.87%
Fastenal Co. FAST	+6.83%
The Mosaic Co. MOS	+6.12%

S&P 500’s Worst 5 Losers On Friday

Company Name	% Change
Charles River Laboratories International Inc. CRL	-6.25%
Texas Instruments Inc. TXN	-6.19%
SanDisk Corp. SNDK	-3.93%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH	-3.30%
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. WBD	-3.23%

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