Stocks move higher after roller-coaster week

August 16, 2019

U.S. stocks opened broadly higher Friday at the end of a turbulent week.

The Dow gained 133 points, or 0.7%, to 25,712 in morning trade. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.1%.

Technology stocks led the market higher in a sign that investors regained some appetite for riskier holdings. Microsoft rose 1.1% and Apple rose 1.2%. Nvidia surged 8.8% on solid earnings.

General Electric rebounded 6.7% after reporting late Thursday that its CEO had bought 250,000 shares of GE stock. GE had taken a plunge on new concerns about its accounting practices.

Stocks turned volatile this week because of new worries that the global economy is cooling off, even as the U.S. economy stayed on steady ground. President Donald Trump this week delayed planned tariffs against China until Dec. 15, saying he was doing so in order to prevent price increases for holiday shoppers.

Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein: “We’re due for a recession”

“Market participants have become increasingly worried about the outlook with concerns about a recession at the highest since the recovery started,” Bank of America analysts said in a note on Friday.

Investors were relieved that to see long-term bond yields edging higher. The yield on 10-year Treasury rose to 1.55% from 1.52% late Thursday.

The bounce for yields follows a weeklong slide that included a sharp drop on Wednesday that rang yet another alarm bell for the economy. The 10-year yield dropped below the yield on the two-year Treasury, a rare occurrence and one that has historically suggested a recession may be a year or two away.