US stocks gain, shrugging off Trump-Zelensky clash
International Desk
Wall Street stocks concluded a downcast week on a positive note Friday, pushing higher in a technical rally while shrugging off a public spat between the US and Ukrainian leaders.
All three indices jumped by more than one percent, recovering from negative territory following the extraordinary clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.4 percent at 43,840.91.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.6 percent to 5,954.50, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.6 percent to 18,847.28.
Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments said the late-session surge came on the heels of heavy selling in recent days that pushed the market to key trading levels, triggering a "short-covering" rally.
"It's normal when the market is oversold for it to bounce," said Sarhan, noting that markets were also encouraged by US inflation data released earlier Friday that did not show an uptick in pricing pressures.
Following the stormy televised meeting with Trump, Zelensky left without a deal for joint development of his country's minerals resources that was to be part of a post-war recovery in a potential US-brokered truce.
Stocks retreated after the footage was broadcast but later recovered after investors concluded there was no immediate market impact.
"Cooler heads" prevailed on trading desks after an initial sell-off, Sarhan said.
