Wall Street rallies to its best day in months, but that’s not enough to salvage its losing week

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rallied to their best day in months on Friday as Wall Street’s roller coaster suddenly shot back upward. That still wasn’t enough to keep the U.S. market from a fourth straight losing week, its longest such streak since August.

The S&P 500 jumped 2.1% a day after closing more than 10% below its record for its first “ correction ” since 2023. The last time the index shot up that much was the day after President Donald Trump’s election, when Wall Street was focusing on the upsides of Trump's return to the White House.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 674 points, or 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6%.

A multi-day “relief rally could be coming” after so much negativity built among investors, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management. Swings in sentiment don’t go full-tilt in just one direction forever, and the U.S. stock market has been tumbling quickly since setting a record less than a month ago.

One piece of uncertainty hanging over Wall Street may be clearing after the Senate made moves to prevent a possible partial shutdown of the U.S. government.

Past shutdowns have not been a huge deal for financial markets. But any reduction of uncertainty can be helpful when so much of it has been sending the U.S. stock market on big, scary swings not just day to day but also hour to hour.

To be sure, the heaviest uncertainty remains with Trump’s escalating trade war. There, the question is how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants. The president has said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States, along with a smaller U.S. government workforce and other fundamental changes.

While stock prices may be close to finishing their reset to account for tariffs set to hit in April, Ma said concerns about how big an impact cutbacks in federal spending will have on the economy are “likely to remain for some time.”

U.S. households and businesses have already reported drops in confidence because of all the uncertainties created by Trump’s barrage of on -again, off -again tariff announcements and other policies. That’s raised fears about a pullback in spending that could sap energy from the economy.

Worries look to be only worsening among U.S. households, according to a preliminary survey released Friday by the University of Michigan. Its measure of consumer sentiment sank for a third straight month, mostly because of concerns about the future rather than complaints about the present. The job market and overall economy look relatively solid at the moment.

“Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors,” according to Joanne Hsu, direct of the survey, and “frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future, regardless of one’s policy preferences.”

Such fears have Wall Street focused on whether companies are seeing the souring mood of consumers translating into real pain for their businesses.

Ulta Beauty jumped 13.7% after the beauty products retailer reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The company’s forecasts for upcoming revenue and profit fell short of analysts’ targets, but Chief Financial Officer Paula Oyibo said it wanted to be cautious “as we navigate ongoing consumer uncertainty.” Analysts said the forecasts appeared better than feared.

Gains for Big Tech stocks and companies in the artificial-intelligence industry also helped support the market. Such stocks have been under the most pressure in the recent sell-off after critics said their prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI.

Nvidia rose 5.3% to trim its loss for 2025 so far below 10%. Apple climbed 1.8% to pare its loss for the week, which at one point had been on pace to be its worst since the 2020 COVID crash.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 117.42 points to 5,638.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 674.62 to 41,488.19, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 451.07 to 17,754.09.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

Stocks jumped 2.1% in Hong Kong and 1.8% in Shanghai after China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice ordering financial institutions to help develop consumer finance and encourage use of credit cards, do more to aid borrowers who run into trouble and be more transparent in their lending practices.

Economists say China needs consumers to spend more to get the economy out of its doldrums, although most have advocated broader, more fundamental reforms.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose to recover some of their sharp recent losses. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.31% from 4.27% late Thursday and from 4.16% at the start of last week.

Yields have been swinging since January, when the 10-year yield was approaching 4.80%. When worries worsen about the U.S. economy’s strength, yields have fallen. When those worries lessen, or when concerns about inflation rise, yields have climbed.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The German stock index DAX is pictured at the stock market in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The curve of the German stock index DAX is pictured at the stock market in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

People walk past London Stock Exchange at the financial district, in London, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A man walks past London Stock Exchange at the financial district, in London, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman walks past the Bank of England, at the financial district, in London, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

People walk past the London Stock Exchange at the financial district, in London, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A man walks past Bank of England, at the financial district, in London, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba suffered a massive power outage Friday night affecting Havana and the country's provinces that left millions in the dark.

Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said at around 8:15 p.m. local time an outage at the Diezmero substation on the outskirts of Havana had caused “a significant loss of generation in western Cuba and, with it, the failure of the National Electric System.”

The ministry said on its account on the social platform X that it is “working on the recovery process.”

The streets of Havana were dark and empty, with light coming only from the windows of hotels that had generators. Internet service was affected.

People in provinces as far away as Guantánamo, Artemisa, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara reported experiencing blackouts with just flickers of light.

Earlier, the Electric Union, the state agency that regulates the sector, said in its daily report that peak-hour demand would be around 3,250 megawatts and the deficit would reach around 1,380 megawatts, meaning 42% of the national energy system would be shut down. This figure is not the highest in recent memory.

Cuba suffered th ree widespread outages in its national energy system at the end of last year, leaving the island in the dark amid a serious economic crisis.

Cuba’s power grid has been plagued by frequent outages, with more than half of the country experiencing power cuts during peak hours. The outages are primarily caused by fuel shortages and aging infrastructure. In many parts of the island, electricity is crucial for cooking and water pumping.

Authorities on the island have begun a program to install photovoltaic parks and promised that dozens of them will be ready this year. Blackouts previously prompted anti-government demonstrations in 2021, 2022, and 2024.

A woman illuminates her plate of food with her phone's flashlight on a street during a general blackout in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents look at their cell phones on the street during a general blackout in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A resident walks on a street during a general blackout in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)