A broad-based rally across the market following comments that the Fed had no intention of increasing rates by 75 basis points supported all three US stock markets on Friday.
The Nasdaq jumped 3.8%, the S&P 500 gained 2.9%and the Dow Jones climbed 1.5%.
However, these weren’t enough to overcome a week’s worth of selling, with the Dow ending 2.1% lower, the S&P 500 down 2.4% and the Nasdaq shedding 2.8%.
This marked the seventh straight weekly decline for the Dow, something that hasn’t happened for decades.
Among the drivers was a significant turn in the bond market, with the 10 year yield falling from 3.2% to 2.9% and a cooling in import prices in April, which were unchanged after a 2.9% increase in the prior month.
Twitter slumps on tweet
On a company-specific level, Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) shares fell close to 10% as Elon Musk appears to be postering for a better price, suggesting he was seeking to confirm how many fake accounts were on the platform before finalising the deal.
Robinhood surges
Shares in COVID-19 winner Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) gained 25% after Sam Bankman-Fried, the owner of one of the world’s largest crypto platforms, FTX, announced he had bought 8% of the shares on issue.
US stock market movers
These popular US stocks were among the biggest movers on Friday.
- Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) up 31.4%
- Sea (NYSE: SE) up 22.7%
- Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) up 15.8%
- Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) up 13.9%
- DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU) up 13.4%
- Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) up 11.6%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is set to follow this positive lead from US stock markets to open higher on Monday. For a round-up of the latest news, check out my ASX morning report.