WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved to the downside at the start of trading on Friday but have shown a notable turnaround over the course of the session. The major averages have climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory, with tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.
Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Nasdaq is up 180.70 points or 0.8 percent at 22,863.43, the S&P 500 is up 29.56 points or 0.4 percent at 6,891.45 and the Dow is up 75.60 points or 0.2 percent at 49,470.76.
The rebound on Wall Street came after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs, delivering a major blow to the president's signature economic policy.
The nation's highest court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.
However, the court's decision does not address whether the more than $130 billion in tariffs that has already been collected should be refunded, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh predicting 'that process is likely to be a 'mess.'
The court's decision was widely expected on Wall Street, and Trump is expected to attempt to reimpose the tariffs using other means.
Early in the session, stocks moved lower following the release of a Commerce Department report showing U.S. economic growth slowed by much more than anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The report said gross domestic product climbed by 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter after surging by 4.4 percent in the third quarter. Economists had expected GDP to jump by 2.8 percent.
A separate Commerce Department report showed an unexpected uptick in the annual rate of consumer price growth, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates on hold in the near future.
Sector News
Networking stocks turning in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index jumping by 1.8 percent.
Notable strength is also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
On the other hand, oil service stocks are giving back ground along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 1.6 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both slumped by 1.1 percent, but South Korea's Kospi bucked the downtrend and surged by 2.3 percent to a record high.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest weakness after ending the previous session roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.3 basis points at 4.088 percent.
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