US stocks close at an all-time high just months after plunging on tariff fears

AP U S stocks closed at an all-time high Friday another milestone in the industry s remarkable recovery from a springtime plunge caused by fears that the Trump administration s bargain policies could harm the business activity The S P rose finishing above its previous record set in February The key measure of Wall Street s wellness fell nearly from February through April The sector s complete turnaround from its deep swoon happened in about half the time that it normally takes announced Sam Stovall chief commitment strategist at CFRA Investors will breathe a sigh of relief he stated The Nasdaq composite gained and set its own all-time high The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose President Donald Trump s decision Friday to halt exchange talks with Canada threatened to derail Wall Street s run to a record but the area steadied The gains on Friday were broad with nearly every sector within the S P rising Nike soared for the biggest gain on the sector despite warning of a steep hit from tariffs The broader field has seemingly shaken off fears about the Israel-Iran war disrupting the global supply of crude oil and sending prices higher A ceasefire between the two nations is still in place The price of crude oil in the U S is mostly unchanged on Friday Prices have fallen back to pre-conflict levels Investors are also monitoring prospective progress on arrangement conflicts between the U S and the world specifically with China The U S and China have signed a business deal that will make it easier for American firms to obtain magnets and rare earth minerals from China that are critical to manufacturing and microchip production U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted Friday China s Commerce Ministry also stated that the two sides had further certified the details of the framework for their business talks But its announcement did not explicitly mention an agreement to ensure U S access to rare earths and instead noted it will review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items An update on inflation Friday presented prices ticked higher in May though the rate mostly matched economists projections Inflation remains a big concern for businesses and consumers Trump s on-again-off-again tariff agenda has made it complex for companies to make forecasts It has also put more pressure on consumers worried about already stubborn inflation A long list of businesses from carmakers to retailers have warned that higher import taxes will likely hurt their revenues and profits The U S has baseline tariffs on all imported goods along with higher rates for Chinese goods and other import taxes on steel and autos The economic system and consumers have remained somewhat resilient under those tariffs though analysts and economists expect to see the impact grow as import taxes continue to work their way through businesses to consumers While we also would have expected to already to be seeing a bit more pass through into the inflation statistics we still expect these impacts to show up in a more meaningful way in the next sparse months reported Greg Wilensky head of U S fixed income and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson The threat of more severe tariffs continues to hang over the market system The current pause on a round of retaliatory tariffs against a long list of nations is set to expire in July Failure to negotiate deals or further postpone the tariffs could once again rattle investors and consumers The Federal Reserve is monitoring the tariff situation with a big focus on inflation The rate of inflation has been stubbornly sitting just above the central bank s target of In a overview Friday its preferred gauge the personal consumption expenditures index rose to in May That s up from the previous month The Fed cut interest rates twice in late following a historic series of rate hikes to cool inflation The PCE was as high as in while the more commonly used consumer price index hit The Fed hasn t cut rate cuts so far in over worries that tariffs could reignite inflation and hamper the business sector Economists still expect at least two rate cuts before the end of the year Bond yields held relatively steady The yield on the -year Treasury rose to from late Thursday The two-year Treasury yield which more closely tracks expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do edged up to from late Thursday All notified the S P rose points to The Dow gained points to and the Nasdaq added points to Stocks in Europe were mostly higher while stocks in Asia finished mixed