Quick overview

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Investors were somewhat relieved by an inflation report, which caused US stocks to rise on Friday. Wall Street also processed new data indicating deteriorating consumer sentiment alongside President Trump’s latest round of punitive tariffs. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both increased in value.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.4 percent. Following three consecutive days of losses for the main US gauges, the gains signaled a change in direction. However, the week ended with a decline of less than 1% in all three major indexes.

The latest inflation data and the findings of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey, which revealed that Americans were more pessimistic about the US economy in September than expected, led to a recovery in stocks from a late-morning decline. Price increases were in line with expectations, according to the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index for August, which includes the Fed-favored “core” PCE measure of inflation. The “core” PCE price index rose 2.9 percent year over year and 0.2 percent month over month in August, both consistent with economists’ predictions.

Trump’s recent threat to impose a 100 percent tax on imported branded medications is also being watched by investors.

The president stated in a social media post late Thursday that the rate would be applied to any pharmaceutical company that hasn’t already built a manufacturing facility in the US, but he provided no further details.

The stocks of pharmaceutical companies in Europe and Asia declined. Following the announcement. According to Trump, new, higher tariffs will be imposed on imports of heavy trucks and certain types of furniture starting in October, about a week or less away.