Stocks tick back up as trade tensions deepen and big banks report earnings

Catherine Baab

Fri, Apr 11, 2025, 8:55 AM 3 min read

U.S. markets eked up Friday morning as investors absorbed a wave of major bank earnings.

After a turbulent Thursday that saw major U.S. indexes sink sharply, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36 points, or 0.1%, as of noon Eastern on Friday, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.4%.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) jumped 2.7% after reporting stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue. BlackRock (BLK) gained 1% following its own earnings beat, while Morgan Stanley (MS) shares stayed flat despite strong performance across its major business lines. Wells Fargo (WFC) slipped 3.2%, underperforming its peers.

Big Tech names also posted slight gains at the open. Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) rose 1.6%, Microsoft (MSFT) gained 1%, and Apple (AAPL) rose 2.2%.

The cautiously optimistic tone suggests that while concerns over tariffs and political volatility remain top of mind, corporate results — especially from key financial players — are offering some reassurance to investors as earnings season kicks off.

However, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon cautioned that the economy is facing “considerable turbulence,” highlighting risks from “sticky inflation,” high fiscal deficits, elevated asset prices, and escalating “tariffs and ‘trade wars.’” He pointed to analysts’ revised earning estimates for S&P 500 as a possible sign of pain to come.

Appearing on CNBC (CMCSA) Friday, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink echoed Dimon’s sentiments, saying that he expects a “slowdown” across the board, and that the U.S. may be in a recession soon – if it isn’t already.

Overnight, China announced a steep escalation in its trade retaliation, raising tariffs on U.S. imports from 84% to 125%. Chinese officials said the new rates effectively render U.S. goods uncompetitive — and that any further tariff increases from Washington would be treated as economically irrelevant.

Meanwhile, gold surged to a record high above $3,200 an ounce as the bond selloff resumed and investors fled U.S. assets.

Long-dated Treasury yields spiked again, signaling persistent fears over inflation and policy volatility. The U.S. dollar also slid, with the ICE Dollar Index down more than 1% to its lowest level in nearly three years. Deutsche Bank (DB) analysts quoted by the New York Times cited the “radical vision and volatile policy” of the Trump administration as a major reason for the depreciation of key U.S. assets.

Consumer-facing companies are also beginning to warn of downstream effects.