Wall Street Stays in the Green: Stocks Tick Up as Week Closes on a High Note

It’s been a choppy week on Wall Street, but stocks are wrapping it up with a bit of a victory lap.

The S&P 500 was up 0.6% Friday morning, hovering just below its all-time high and well on its way to scoring a third weekly win in the past four. The Dow added 188 points (about 0.4%), and the Nasdaq continued its record run, up another 0.6% after setting a new high on Thursday.

Big tech stocks once again did most of the heavy lifting. Nvidia ticked up 0.8%, while Microsoft added 0.6%, pushing the broader market higher. And it wasn’t just the tech giants making waves — companies like Gilead Sciences and Expedia Group also showed up strong.

Gilead popped 8.4% after crushing earnings expectations and raising its outlook for the rest of the year. Expedia followed with a 6.6% jump after posting its own better-than-expected results.

The gains come despite (or maybe because of?) the swirling uncertainty over President Trump’s latest tariff barrage, which took effect Thursday. Dozens of countries are now facing higher import duties, part of Trump’s ongoing trade pressure campaign — a strategy that has Wall Street watching closely.

The real wildcard here? The Federal Reserve. With economic signals flashing both hot and cold, the Fed has opted to hold interest rates steady, for now. Markets are betting that might change soon, especially after Trump’s pick for an interim Fed board seat, Stephen Miran, signaled he’d back rate cuts.

“Markets are already traveling with a very strong expectation that there will be a rate cut,” said Ray Attrill of NAB in Sydney.

That whisper of a “dovish pivot” helped push Treasury yields slightly higher Friday, with the 10-year yield climbing to 4.28% and the 2-year rising to 3.76% — both modest gains from Thursday.

Overseas, markets were a mixed bag. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was the standout, soaring 1.85% to a fresh high thanks to strong earnings from the likes of SoftBank Group, which surged over 13%. The broader Topix index crossed the 3,000 threshold for the first time ever.

But the rest of Asia was mostly in the red. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped nearly 0.9%, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.55%, and Australia’s ASX 200 edged down 0.28%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and Sensex indexes struggled under pressure from Trump’s new 50% import duties on the region.

Meanwhile, European markets tried to shake off concerns about US tariffs, with the STOXX 600 up slightly and Switzerland’s SMI dipping just 0.14%, despite being hit with a painful 39% US tariff on gold bar exports.

While traditional markets inched higher, Ethereum was making a more dramatic move — rallying over 2.6% to touch $3,953, its highest level in seven months. Investor demand for crypto appears to be picking back up as traders hedge against economic and geopolitical instability.

Despite all the noise — tariffs, Fed shake-ups, geopolitical jitters — stocks are holding steady, if not outright rising.

Investor sentiment remains cautious, though. The American Association of Individual Investors reported a surge in bearish sentiment, the biggest jump since February. Ironically, that might actually be a bullish sign.

“If the poll is bearish, that is encouraging,” said Sam Stovall of CFRA. “Institutional money tends to look at retail investors as ‘dumb money’ and plan accordingly.”

So while everyday investors might be bracing for a drop, the so-called “smart money” could be getting ready to buy the dip — or ride the rally.

The market isn’t ignoring the risks — from rising tariffs to global tensions to inflation whispers — but it’s not panicking either. Solid earnings from tech and pharma, steady (for now) Fed policy, and a weaker-than-feared tariff impact have helped keep Wall Street in the green.

With one week left before the Fed’s next big meeting, all eyes are on inflation data, bond yields, and — yes — more tweets from Trump.

For now, though, it’s a Friday win for the bulls.

The Associated Press, CNBC, and Reuters contributed to this report.