U.S. Stocks Move Back To The Upside As Bank Credit Concerns Quickly Fade

(RTTNews) - After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages all moved to the upside, regaining ground following the downturn seen in the previous session.

The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 238.37 points or 0.5 percent to 46,190.61, the Nasdaq climbed 117.44 points or 0.5 percent to 22,679.97 and the S&P 500 rose 34.94 points or 0.5 percent to 6,664.01.

With the rebound on the day, the major averages posted strong gains for the week. The Nasdaq surged by 2.1 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow jumped by 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as the concerns about bad loans that dragged the markets lower on Thursday seemed to evaporate as quickly as they materialized.

Shares of banking stocks like Jefferies (JEF) and Zion Bancorp (ZION) showed strong moves back to the upside after leading the markets lower in the previous session.

Jefferies and Zion benefitted from positive analyst comments, while banks like Truist Financial (TFC), Fifth Third (FITB) and Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) also moved higher after reporting better than expected quarterly earnings.

Stocks also benefited from easing concerns about the trade dispute between the U.S. and China following the latest comments from President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Fox Business this morning, Trump said the high tariffs he has threatened on Chinese imports are "probably not [sustainable]" but argued "they forced me to do that."

Trump also confirmed he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in South Korea later this month after previously casting doubt on whether the planned meeting would be worthwhile.

Sector News

Despite the strength that emerged in the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plummeting by 7.4 percent after ending Thursday's trading at a record closing high.

The sell-off by gold stocks came as the price of the precious metal has pulled back sharply after soaring to record highs in recent sessions.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index plunged by 2.0 percent.

Most European stocks also moved to the downside. While the German DAX Index tumbled by 1.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground amid profit taking following yesterday's advance. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.1 basis points to 4.007 percent.

Looking Ahead

A report on consumer price inflation that is due to be released despite the government shutdown is likely to be in focus next week along with the latest earnings news.

Coca-Cola (KO), General Motors (GM), Netflix (NFLX), AT&T (T), IBM Corp. (IBM), Tesla (TSLA), and Intel (INTC) are among the slew of big-name companies due to report their quarterly results next week.