Stock market news: The Dow jumps as much as 400 points

Traders
celebrate after the closing bell on the floor of the New York
Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 6,
2018.
Brendan
McDermid/Reuters

• Stocks staged a recovery early on Friday following tame
  inflation data. 
• The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than a
  thousand points between Tuesday and Thursday. 
• 
  Watch US indexes trade
  in real time here.
  

Following the worst couple of days on Wall Street since February,
stocks staged a recovery on Friday amid signs inflationary
pressures remain in check despite a humming economy, and as
earnings season kicked off with strong postings from major
banks. 

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped as many as 400
points at the US open, clawing its way back up from a 1,200-point
drop since Tuesday. After briefly dipping into correction
territory on Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite jumped
more than 2%. The S&P 500 rose 1.5% to slightly above its
200-day moving average. 

Strong earnings reports before the market open also gave
Wall Street a boost, with JPMorgan Chase & Co rising more
than 2% after posting a 24% jump in profits. Citigroup and Wells
Fargo also topped analyst expectations. 

Treasury yields resumed a climb after dipping in the previous
session. Investors sold off bonds earlier this week amid fears of
rising interest rates, sending the 10- and 2-year yields to
multiyear highs. 

“The key question is whether that is the end of the
sell-off,” Societe Generale analysts wrote in an email.

“We certainly see some scope for a consolidation in the
near term, but because renewed pressure from issuance and the
fact that some of the risk factors may be resolved in November,
our medium-term bearish bond view remains intact.”

All eyes have been on a string of government data releases
this week, with investors paying particular attention to
inflation gauges. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue
tightening as the economy hums along, adding to three rate
increases this year and eight since the financial
crisis. 

Early Friday, the Labor Department said import prices had
climbed faster than expected in September. But that was largely
due to a booming energy market — prices excluding oil were mostly
unchanged. Data out a day earlier showed consumer prices rose
0.1% during that same time period, also falling short of
economist expectations.

A measure of expected volatility on the S&P 500,
the Cboe Volatility Index, backed
off from its highest level since February. Also known as Wall
Street’s “fear index,” the VIX tends to rise when stocks are
down.