The selling had stopped. After three brutal days, Wall Street found its footing.
After three days of mounting anxiety over inflation, global markets found their footing Thursday as commodity prices retreated and the Colonial pipeline resumed operations, dissolving the immediate pressure that had unsettled investors. Wall Street's recovery — led by the technology and financial sectors — spread eastward through Asia and into Europe by Friday morning, a reminder that fear and relief travel the same routes across the world's exchanges. Yet beneath the rebound lies an unresolved question that markets have only deferred, not answered: whether the inflation now stirring in the economy is a passing season or a longer reckoning.
- Three consecutive days of losses had left the S&P 500 at its worst single-day drop since February, with tech stocks and growth assets bearing the heaviest damage.
- The sudden easing of copper, zinc, and aluminum prices — combined with the Colonial pipeline's reopening — cut the legs out from under the inflation panic that had triggered the selloff.
- Technology giants Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google led the Wall Street reversal, while semiconductor makers Samsung and SK Hynix powered gains across Asian markets with expansion announcements.
- Bitcoin clawed back 3.6% after a brutal week shaped by Elon Musk's reversal on Tesla accepting the currency, though the recovery remained partial.
- Bond yields pulled back slightly from their mid-week spike, but investors remain split on whether the Fed's 'temporary inflation' narrative will survive the next round of economic data.
The selling had stopped. After three punishing days that left Wall Street nursing its worst single-session loss since February, the S&P 500 found its footing on Thursday and held it — climbing 1.2% to close at 4,112.50. The Dow rose 1.3%, the Russell 2000 jumped 1.7%, and even the Nasdaq, which had absorbed the week's hardest blows, gained 0.7%. Technology stocks led the recovery after spending the earlier part of the week in retreat, with Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google's parent company all moving higher. Financial firms JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, and Capital One each posted gains above 2%.
The catalyst was simple: the price of things stopped climbing so fast. Copper, zinc, and aluminum all retreated, and the reopening of the Colonial Oil pipeline — shut down by a cyberattack — signaled that energy supplies would remain stable. Oil fell accordingly, and the energy sector, which had been the lone winner on Wednesday, became the lone loser on Thursday.
The momentum crossed the Pacific. Japan's Nikkei added 2.3%, Seoul's Kospi rose 1% on the back of semiconductor gains from Samsung and SK Hynix, and Hong Kong and Shanghai both advanced. Singapore was the exception, falling 2.5% after fresh coronavirus outbreaks threatened a planned travel arrangement with Hong Kong. European indices moved modestly higher, and futures pointed to further gains ahead.
Bitcoin recovered some ground — up 3.6% to $50,105 — after a brutal stretch triggered by Elon Musk's announcement that Tesla would no longer accept it as payment. The 10-year Treasury yield settled at 1.65%, easing from its mid-week high of 1.70%, while the dollar softened slightly against major currencies.
For now, markets chose to believe the Federal Reserve's position that inflation is temporary. But that belief rests on data not yet written — and the question of whether this week's relief is a resolution or merely a pause remains very much open.
The selling had stopped. After three brutal days that left the S&P 500 nursing its worst single-day loss since February, Wall Street found its footing on Thursday and didn't let go. The rally that took hold late in the week rippled outward, lifting markets across Europe and Asia on Friday morning as investors exhaled and reassessed what had spooked them in the first place.
The numbers told the story of recovery. The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% to close at 4,112.50, clawing back nearly half of what it had surrendered the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% to 34,021.45. The Nasdaq, which had been hit particularly hard by the week's turmoil, gained 0.7% to 13,124.99. The Russell 2000 jumped 1.7% to 2,170.95. Technology stocks—Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google's parent company—led the charge upward after spending the earlier part of the week in retreat. Financial companies moved in the same direction, with JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, and Capital One Financial each posting gains above 2%.
The catalyst for the reversal was straightforward: the price of things stopped climbing so fast. Copper, zinc, and aluminum all retreated, easing the inflation anxiety that had triggered the selloff in the first place. The reopening of the Colonial Oil pipeline on the East Coast, which had been shut down by a cyberattack, signaled that energy supplies would not be constrained, and oil prices fell accordingly. U.S. crude dropped 21 cents to $63.61 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, lost 12 cents to $66.93. The energy sector, which had been the only winner on Wednesday, became the only loser on Thursday as oil retreated.
Across the Pacific, the momentum carried forward. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 2.3% to 28,084.47. Seoul's Kospi rose 1% to 3,153.32, buoyed by semiconductor manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which each posted gains of 2.3% and 1.3% respectively after announcing plans to expand their chip production and development operations. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 1.1% to 28,027.57. Shanghai's Composite index gained 1.8% to 3,490.38. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.5% higher at 7,014.20. Singapore was the outlier, with shares falling 2.5% after fresh coronavirus outbreaks threatened to derail a planned travel bubble arrangement with Hong Kong.
Europe moved modestly higher. Germany's DAX gained 0.3% to 15,241.57. Paris's CAC 40 rose 0.4% to 6,315.27. Britain's FTSE 100 picked up 0.6% to 7,005.56. Futures contracts suggested the momentum would continue into the following session, with S&P 500 futures up 0.5% and Dow futures up 0.3%.
Bitcoin, which had been battered earlier in the week after Elon Musk reversed Tesla's position on accepting the digital currency as payment, recovered some ground with a 3.6% gain to $50,105. The cryptocurrency had plunged 10% in the days following Musk's announcement that the electric car maker would no longer take it as payment.
Underlying the market's mood swing was a fundamental question that remains unresolved: whether the inflation creeping into the economy is temporary, as the Federal Reserve has maintained, or something more persistent that will force the central bank to tighten monetary policy sooner than expected. Bond yields had spiked sharply earlier in the week but pulled back slightly on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note settled at 1.65% on Friday, down from 1.70% on Wednesday. The dollar weakened slightly, falling to 109.26 Japanese yen from 109.46 yen late Thursday, while the euro climbed to $1.2124 from $1.2081. For now, the market had decided to believe the Fed's narrative. Whether that belief holds depends on what the data says next.
Citações Notáveis
Investors questioning whether rising inflation will be transitory as Federal Reserve has said, or something more durable that will require policy shifts— Market analysis
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What actually spooked people so badly that they sold for three straight days?
Inflation signals. Commodity prices were climbing, and people started wondering if the Federal Reserve's story—that this is just temporary—was wishful thinking. If inflation sticks around, the Fed will have to raise interest rates, and that's bad for stocks, especially expensive tech stocks.
So what changed between Wednesday and Thursday?
The same commodities that had people worried started falling. Copper, zinc, aluminum all retreated. And the Colonial pipeline reopened—that was huge because it meant no supply crunch for oil. Suddenly the inflation narrative looked less scary.
Why did tech stocks lead the recovery?
They'd been hit the hardest on the way down because rising rates hurt their valuations most. When the inflation panic eased, they bounced back hardest. Same logic in reverse.
Asia seemed to follow along pretty quickly. Was that just copycat buying?
Partly, but there was real news there too. Samsung and SK Hynix announced expansion plans for chip production. That gave Asian markets their own reason to move higher, not just mirroring Wall Street.
Singapore was the only real loser. Why?
New COVID outbreaks. They were planning a travel bubble with Hong Kong, and that deal looked suddenly fragile. It's a reminder that the market's mood can shift on different news in different places.
Is this rally sustainable, or are people just catching their breath?
That depends entirely on what inflation does next. The Fed is betting it's transitory. If the next data release shows prices still climbing, we could see another selloff. The market's belief is conditional.