WAL - Dow Breaks 4-Day Slump with a Vengeance
Stocks popped on Friday as regional bank shares climbed off their lows and market-darling Apple jumped after posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials leaped 546.64 points, or 1.7%, to close at 33,674,38.
The S&P 500 grabbed 75.03 points, or 1.9%, to 4,136.25.
The NASDAQ Composite popped 269.01 points, or 2.3%, to 12,235.41.
Despite Friday's rally, the Dow and the S&P 500 logged their worst week since March. The 30-stock Dow lost 1.24%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.8%. The NASDAQ eked out a small weekly gain of 0.07%.
The rebound for regional bank stocks was boosted by a note from JPMorgan, which upgraded Western Alliance, Zions Bancorp and Comerica to overweight.
PacWest — which is down sharply this week on news it's considering strategic options that include a sale — popped 81.7%. Western Alliance also jumped 49.2%.
Stocks rose even as April's jobs numbers came in hotter than expected. The U.S. economy added 253,000 jobs in April, while Wall Street had expected 180,000 new jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Shares of regional banking companies have been under pressure this week, as traders fear other institutions could suffer the same fate as Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Both banks collapsed in March.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, raising yields to 3.44% from Thursday's 3.36%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices took on $2.76 to $71.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $30.80 to $2,024.90 U.S. an ounce.