Wall Street’s main stock indexes climbed more than 1 percent on Friday, giving investors some solace after a week of huge swings that shook the market out of months of calm.
The Dow ended trading on Friday up 330 points – this after one of the most volatile days seen by the index in years.
Even with Friday’s gains, the benchmark S&P 500 fell 5.2 percent for the week, its biggest weekly percentage drop since January 2016, as volatility spiked back up.
During Friday’s session alone, the S&P 500 swung from as high as up 2.2 percent to down 1.9 percent, echoing the big swings of the past week.
Wall Street’s main stock indexes climbed more than 1 percent on Friday, giving investors some solace after a week of huge swings that shook the market out of months of calm
The fresh volatility came a day after the benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow industrials confirmed they were in correction territory, both falling more than 10 percent from Jan. 26 record highs
Even with Friday’s gains, the benchmark S&P 500 fell 5.2 percent for the week, its biggest weekly percentage drop since January 2016, as volatility spiked back up
The Dow moved in a range of more than 1,000 points.
The fresh volatility came a day after the benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow industrials confirmed they were in correction territory, both falling more than 10 percent from Jan. 26 record highs.
Friday’s session marked the latest day of sharp swings in the past week that have pulled stocks lower after a steady climb for months to record highs.
‘I just think the market has to find new footing here,’ said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.
‘We are in very sloppy territory, until we’re not in sloppy territory.’
Technology was among the best performing groups. Energy shares lagged as oil prices tumbled.
The above chart shows the Dow Jones Industrial Average take a precipitous dip over six days of trading
The NASDAQ index of tech stocks also fell considerably over the past week
The Dow Jones Transport Average index fell 0.23 percent.
The index was dragged down by shares of package delivery companies FedEx and United Parcel Service after a report said Amazon.com is preparing to launch a delivery service for businesses.
The sharp selloff in recent days was kicked off by concerns over rising inflation and bond yields, sparked by last week’s January US jobs report.
Equities for years have looked relatively attractive compared to the low yields offered by bonds, but the rise in Treasury yields has diminished the allure of stocks, especially with stock valuations at historically expensive levels.
The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries hovered around 2.82 percent after touching a four-year peak of 2.885 percent on Monday.
Specialist Jay Woods works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday
‘That’s part of this recalculation that has gone on in the market: How do we factor in higher bond yields?’ said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in Milwaukee.
‘And that is a process that is playing out.’
The S&P 500 lost $2.49 trillion in market value since Jan. 26 through Thursday, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Volatility remained high compared to recent months.
The market’s main gauge of volatility, the Cboe Volatility Index, hovered around 34 on Friday, about three times the average level of the past year.