Wall St ends whipsaw week sharply higher as Fed comments soothe market

Wall St ends whipsaw week sharply higher as Fed comments soothe market

By Stephen Culp

Fri April 11, 2025 6:05 PM

The good news is that after all three indexes whipsawed around break-even during the morning, the Dow down some 350 by 11:30, then all three soared for the rest of the day, albeit not as radically as Wednesday but still quite substantially. The trigger was likely a combo of positive Q1 reporting from JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo as well as Fed comments that they were prepared to protect financial markets and hold stagflation in check and that the economy was not entering high inflation and low growth. Then there was the bad news.  

China upped the tariff on U.S. goods while consumer expectations of 1-year inflation shot way up to 6.7%, its highest in 44 years. Q1 S&P earnings growth has also been cut to 8% vs 12.2% forecast in January. Citi has cut its forecast for year-end S&P to 5,800 from the earlier forecast of 6,500. And the usual cautionary note remains, “Uncertainty and volatility is the new investor narrative. The table is set for more volatility ahead and this week’s roller coaster ride could be just foreshadowing for what’s ahead.” But to end on a positive note, all three indexes posted gains for the week, the S&P and Dow their biggest since November 2023, the Nasdaq since November 2022. And volume came in at 19.19 billion, for a change very close in line with the 4-week average of 18.74 billion. 

DJ: 39,593.66  -1,014.79     NAS: 16,387.31  -737.66      S&P: 5,268.05  -188.85        4/10

DJ: 40,212.71  +619.05       NAS: 16,724.46  +337.15     S&P: 5,363.36  +95.31         4/11

Fri 4-11-25 6:05 pm Wall St ends whipsaw week sharply higher as Fed comments soothe market | Reuters