Stocks moved higher Friday after the Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s tariff measures, offering potential relief to companies facing higher import costs and easing fears that persistent inflation will continue to weigh on the U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 rose 0.69% to close at 6,909.51, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9% to 22,886.07. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 230.81 points, or 0.47%, finishing at 49,625.97. The 30-stock index rebounded after falling roughly 200 points earlier in the session following weak economic data.
The high court struck down most of Trump’s broad tariff policy implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, ruling that the law does not grant the president authority to impose tariffs. In response, Trump said he plans to introduce a new 10% “global tariff.”
“Now I’m going to go in a different direction — probably the direction I should have taken the first time,” the president said at a White House briefing. “I’ll go the way I could have gone originally, which is even stronger than our original choice.”
Shares of Magnificent Seven member Amazon — which sources up to 70% of its goods from China, according to Wedbush Securities, and has already seen tariff-related price pressure — jumped more than 2% after the decision. Other companies viewed as potential beneficiaries, including Home Depot and Five Below, also traded higher.
Although Wall Street had largely anticipated the Supreme Court’s decision, uncertainty remains, particularly over whether tariffs already collected at higher rates will be refunded. The ruling did not address that issue.
Earlier Friday, traders digested weaker-than-expected U.S. growth data. Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.4% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, well below the 2.5% forecast from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The prior quarter had shown a much stronger 4.4% gain.
The Commerce Department attributed much of the slowdown to the record government shutdown, which lasted through the first half of the fourth quarter and is estimated to have shaved about 1 percentage point off growth.
Meanwhile, the personal consumption expenditures price index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure — indicated price pressures remained steady in December. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, rose 3%, matching expectations but still above the Fed’s 2% target.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.3%, the S&P 500 advanced 1.1%, and the Nasdaq broke a five-week losing streak with a 1.5% rise.
