Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., March 21, 2025.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
The S&P 500 inched higher on Friday, ending four consecutive weeks of declines that were brought on by trade policy turmoil, recession fears and a rollover in megacap tech shares.
The S&P 500 added 0.08%, rising into positive territory as the trading session drew to a close. The broad market index ended the day at 5,667.56. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.52% and ended at 17,784.05, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 32.03 points, or 0.08%, to close at 41,985.35.
The broad-market S&P 500 posted a 0.5% weekly advance, averting a fifth straight week of losses. The Nasdaq rose 0.2% week to date, and the Dow posted a 1.2% gain.
Friday was a “quadruple witching” day – when stock options, index futures, index options and single-stock futures expire. Goldman estimated that more than $4.7 trillion of notional options exposure would expire.
The session was volatile with major averages coming off their lows after President Donald Trump said there would be some “flexibility” with tariffs. However, he maintained that the tariffs implemented at the April 2 deadline will be reciprocal, saying that all countries that have tariffs on U.S. goods will be charged.
S&P 500, 1-day
Trump’s tariff deadline is looming over the market, according to Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management.
“Companies are increasingly citing confusion and uncertainty around their planning and capital spending and hiring decisions — and when they pause, it means that they’re slowing down,” he said. “There’s an element of that playing out in the markets.”
Two economic bellwethers slid on Friday. FedEx was down 6.5% after it cut its earnings outlook, citing “weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy.” Nike shares were off by more than 5% after the shoe and apparel giant said sales this quarter would miss analysts’ expectations because of tariffs and falling consumer confidence.
The S&P 500 briefly fell into correction territory at one point during its sell-off since late February, and it now sits nearly 8% from its record high, short of the 10% correction level. The benchmark has made some attempts to rally this month without much follow-through, including on Wednesday when it snapped back by 1% after the Federal Reserve said it would still likely cut rates two times this year.
