Wall St ends Friday sharply higher as selloff prompts dip-buying rally

U.S. stocks rebounded on Friday as investors hunted for bargains at the end of a tumultuous week in which U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating trade war fueled recession fears and doused risk appetite.

A broad rally boosted all three major U.S. stock indexes to solid gains, with recently battered tech-related megacaps enjoying a comeback. Every one of the so-called Magnificent 7 artificial intelligence-related momentum stocks advanced, although six of them remain down on the year.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged their biggest one-day percentage gains since November 6, the day after the U.S. presidential election.

Chips were outperformers, rising 3.3%, while the FANG group of tech-adjacent momentum stocks advanced 3.2%.

"I don't see a catalyst that would spark this huge upside we're seeing in markets," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky.

"We're obviously down 10% from all-time highs and pretty oversold, which sets good conditions for a rally even if the fundamental problems are not solved."

Even with Friday's bounce, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched their fourth straight weekly losses. The Dow also posted a Friday-to-Friday dip.

Encouraging inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday was overshadowed this week by mounting uncertainties arising from Trump's frequently shifting policies, including tariff threats against the biggest U.S. trading partners.