Newscasts - Wall Street advances on trade hopes, data shows investor pessimism

Charter Communications

16/05/2025 23:34

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_i7hd273x&referenceId=tag:reuters.com,2025:newsml_RW487616052025RP1_930&pageId=Newscasts
Source: 'Reuters - Business videos'

Description: All three main indexes boasted weekly gains after starting out with a steep rally on Monday, after Washington and Beijing agreed to a 90-day pause in their escalating trade war. Lisa Bernhard has more.

Short Link: https://refini.tv/3H0XiIP

Video Transcript:

US stocks closed higher on Friday with the Dow gaining more than 0.75%, the S&P 500 climbing 0.7%, and the NASDAQ adding 0.5%. All three main indexes boasted weekly gains after starting off with a steep rally on Monday after the US and China agreed to a 90-day pause in their escalating trade war. Stocks briefly lost ground early Friday when the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment survey slumped to its second-lowest level ever, with consumers' one-year inflation expectations surging to 7.3%. Melissa Brown, Managing Director of Investment Decision Research at SimCorp, said she was surprised to see stocks rally despite the downbeat report.

It's difficult to determine why investors remain so enthusiastic. With the exception of maybe because stocks have been up on positive news about tariffs for a few weeks, and so it could be that stocks have the wind at their backs and investors are just not that worried about one consumer sentiment number.

Stocks on the move Friday included UnitedHealth Group, which rose nearly 6.5% after eight straight days of steep losses. Investors were warily expecting strategic changes at the insurer after the Wall Street Journal reported it was under a criminal probe by the Justice Department. Shares of Applied Materials slipped more than 5% after the provider of equipment for chip manufacturing missed estimates for second-quarter revenue. Charter Communications shares rose nearly 2% after the cable company said it would buy privately held rival Cox Communications for nearly $22 billion. Shares of Verizon Communications rose after the Federal Communications Commission said it was approving Verizon's $20 billion purchase of fiber optic internet provider Frontier Communications, after the largest US telecom company agreed to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.