Wall Street is set to end a whirlwind week with modest gains.
The Dow was up 315 points, or 0.68%, as of Friday afternoon. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq each rose 0.65%.
Stocks climbed higher as investors maintained optimism about a potential de-escalation in US-China trade tensions. President Donald Trump said early Friday that triple-digit tariffs would be “not sustainable.”
“I think we’re getting along with China,” Trump said later at the White House.
“Trump put worked to stabilize angst on Wall Street, as the president delivered a conciliatory message regarding Washington’s trade conflict with Beijing,” José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said in a note.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the VIX, sank 11% after briefly hitting its highest level since April this morning.
“The markets are looking beyond the noise, so to speak, but investors are still on the lookout for policy surprises,” said Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
“Markets are going to remain sensitive to policy surprises,” he said.
Gold futures dipped lower on Friday but were on track to finish the week with a gain of 6.4%, posting their best week since April. Gold prices have surged 61% this year as investors have rushed into safe havens.