U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the Nasdaq leading gains after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, offering relief to investors after weaker-than-expected economic data dented sentiment earlier in the day.
The U.S. top court, which has a conservative majority, ruled 6-3 against his global tariffs, enacted under a federal law meant for national emergencies. Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” levies included a baseline duty of 10% on all imports into the United States and specific additional duties of 15% to 50% on most countries, many of which were renegotiated and subsequently lowered.
Trump called the ruling a “disgrace” and said he had a backup plan, sources told Reuters.
While stock markets have recovered from the selloff induced by last year’s tariff announcement, companies as well as consumers are still grappling with the fallout from the duties.
Shares of U.S. toymakers Hasbro and Mattel, online furniture retailer Wayfair, Pottery Barn-owner Williams-Sonoma and luxury furniture retailer RH – some of the companies that were hit by the tariffs – climbed after the verdict.
Solar companies including First Solar and Canadian Solar and homebuilders Pultegroup and Lennar also rose.
“It’s still too early to make a broad reaching assessment… initially the perception will be that this should help ease some of the inflationary pressures, should the Supreme Court decision have staying power,” said Michael James, equity sales trader at Rosenblatt Securities in Los Angeles.
“That’s why you’re seeing a notable rally not only in the market overall but in consumer-related names specifically.”
Thousands of companies around the world have filed lawsuits challenging Trump’s sweeping tariffs and sought refunds on the duties they have paid. There is a risk more than $175 billion in U.S. tariff collections will need to be refunded, according to Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists.
At 11:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114.02 points, or 0.23%, to 49,509.18, the S&P 500 gained 43.72 points, or 0.64%, to 6,905.61, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 250.31 points, or 1.10%, to 22,933.03.
Data earlier in the day showed U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter, while a separate reading indicated inflation picked up in December. Traders largely stuck to bets the Federal Reserve will deliver its next interest-rate cut in June.
Seven of the 11 S&P sectors were trading higher, with the communication services index leading gains, boosted by a 4.5% rise in Alphabet.
High valuations and AI disruption fears have lately pressured technology and other sectors as investors question if massive AI spending is paying off.
Private capital firm Blue Owl Capital shed 2.6% a day after its strategy to return capital from a small debt fund and permanently halt redemptions at one of the funds rattled investors and dragged peers down.
Akamai Technologies slid 10.6% after the cloud company forecast first-quarter adjusted profit below Wall Street estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.29-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 64 new highs and 91 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Pooja Desai)