U.S. Stocks Showing Significant Rebound From Early Slump

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply lower early in the session on Friday but have shown a significant recovery over the course of the trading day. The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day.

After tumbling by as much as 1.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is currently up 9.45 points or 0.1 percent at 17,701.08.

The Dow is also up 2.29 points or less than a tenth of a percent after plunging by more than 500 points in early trading, while the S&P 500 is well off its lows but remains down 6.19 points or 0.1 percent at 5,656.70.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about the economic outlook along with rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty about the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The selling pressure was partly offset by comments from Trump suggesting "there'll be flexibility" with the reciprocal tariffs set to be imposed April 2nd.

However, Trump said during the same remarks in the Oval Office that providing exceptions for one country means "you have to do that for all," furthering the uncertainty about his plans.

While the broader markets have regained ground, shares of FedEx (FDX) remains sharply lower, with the delivery giant plunging by 6.9 percent on the day.

The slump by FedEx comes after the company reported slightly weaker than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and lowered its full-year earnings guidance due to "continued weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy."

Dow component Nike (NKE) is also tumbling by 5.8 percent after the athletic apparel and footwear giant reported fiscal third quarter results that beat estimates but forecast a decrease in sales in the current quarter.

Chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) has also plummeted by 7.8 percent even though the company reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Sector News

Despite the recovery by the broader markets, steel stocks continue to see significant weakness, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index slumping by 2.1 percent.

Considerable weakness also remains visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) is well off its worst levels but still down by 3.5 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal first quarter results but forecasting fiscal second quarter new orders below estimates.

Gold, oil producer and semiconductor stocks also continue to see notable weakness, while some strength has emerged among telecom and biotechnology stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific ended mixed on Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged by 2.2 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.2 percent, while stocks in Japan, South Korea and Australia moved modestly higher.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both slid by 0.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly lower over the course of the session after seeing initial strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.7 basis points at 4.250 percent.