US stocks rose before the bell on Friday, eyeing a comeback from a bruising sell-off as Wall Street gets ready to wrap up another week of tariff-fueled turmoil.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) were up 0.5%, and those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) popped 0.8%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) put on 0.3%, with all three gauges paring earlier premarket gains.
President Trump’s fast-moving tariff policy has whiplashed stocks this week, which saw the major US indexes notch historic gains during Wednesday’s session but then tank on Thursday.
As of 5:19:30 AM EDT. Market Open.
ES=F NQ=F YM=F
That rout came as initial optimism for President Trump’s 90-day “pause” on most reciprocal tariffs gave way to concern about escalation in his trade war with China. The tumble was spurred by news the White House had actually hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%, not the 125% originally suggested.
Read more: Live updates on Trump tariffs fallout
Despite that, the major indexes are positioned for their best week in months, largely on the back of the mid-week surge. That, of course, could all be upended by whatever Friday has to bring to the discussion.
Investors will get the March reading on the Producer Price Index later in the day, providing another piece of the pre-tariff inflation puzzle. Given the market’s all-consuming focus on US trade policy, the wholesale inflation reading could be overshadowed as a catalyst, as with this week’s Consumer Price Index print.
First quarter earnings season begins in earnest on Friday with results from big banks such as JPMorgan (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Morgan Stanley (MS). Those earnings will be closely studied for any broad signs of consumer fallout amid the tariff turmoil.
Meanwhile, investors have fled the US dollar (DX=F) in search of safe-haven assets like the Swiss franc and the yen, while gold (GC=F) has continued a record-breaking rally to top $3,200 per ounce.
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