Stocks gain ground and put Wall Street on a path for all-time highs

By DAMIAN J. TROISE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in afternoon trading Friday and put Wall Street on track to close a strong week at an all-time high.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and is set to surpass its record reached in February. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.6% and is also on track for a record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%, or 510 points, to 43,898 as of 12:13 p.m. Eastern.

A record for the S&P 500 would mark a sharp turnaround from several months ago, when the key measure of Wall Street’s health fell nearly 20% from the February high on fears that President Donald Trump’s trade policy could harm the economy.

The gains on Friday were broad, with nearly every sector within the S&P 500 rising. Nike soared 18.5% for the biggest gain on the market, despite warning of a steep hit from tariffs.

The broader market has seemingly shaken off fears about the Israel-Iran war disrupting the global supply of crude oil and sending prices higher. A ceasefire between the two nations is still in place.

The price of crude oil in the U.S. is mostly unchanged on Friday. Prices have fallen back to pre-conflict levels.

Investors are also monitoring potential progress on trade conflicts between the U.S. and the world, specifically with China. The U.S. and China have signed a trade deal that will make it easier for American firms to obtain magnets and rare earth minerals from China that are critical to manufacturing and microchip production, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday.

China’s Commerce Ministry also said that the two sides had “further confirmed the details of the framework” for their trade talks. But its statement did not explicitly mention an agreement to ensure U.S. access to rare earths.

An update on inflation Friday showed prices ticked higher in May, though the rate mostly matched economists’ projections.

Inflation remains a big concern for businesses and consumers. Trump’s on-again-off-again tariff policy has made it difficult for companies to make forecasts. It has also put more pressure on consumers worried about already stubborn inflation. A long list of businesses from carmakers to retailers have warned that higher import taxes will likely hurt their revenues and profits.

The U.S. has 10% baseline tariffs on all imported goods, along with higher rates for Chinese goods and other import taxes on steel and autos. The economy and consumers have remained somewhat resilient under those tariffs, though analysts and economists expect to see the impact grow as import taxes continue to work their way through businesses to consumers.

“While we also would have expected to already to be seeing a bit more pass through into the inflation statistics, we still expect these impacts to show up in a more meaningful way in the next few months,” said Greg Wilensky, head of U.S. fixed income and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson.

The threat of more severe tariffs continues to hang over the economy. The current pause on a round of retaliatory tariffs against a long list of nations is set to expire in July. Failure to negotiate deals or further postpone the tariffs could once again rattle investors and consumers.