Banks Bounce Back as Indexes End the Week Up

Wall Street cruised to the finish of a winning week on Friday after banks recovered some of their sharp losses from the day before.

• The Dow rose 238.37 points, or 0.5%, to 46,190.61, to close the week up 1.6%.
• The S&P 500 rose 34.94 points, or 0.5%, to 6,664.01, climbing 1.7% for the week.
• The Nasdaq rose 117.44 points, or 0.5%, to 22,679.97, up 2.1% for the week.

The gains capped the best week for the S&P 500 since early August, the AP reports, but it was a roller coaster ride.

Indexes careened through several jarring swings as worries built about the financial health of small and midsized banks, as well as the souring trade relationship between the US and China. Some of the nervousness around US-China trade tensions eased on Friday after President Trump said that the high tariffs he threatened to put on Chinese imports are not sustainable. Trump also told Fox News Channel that he would meet with China's leader, Xi Jinping, at an upcoming conference in South Korea. That's counter to an earlier, angry posting he made on social media, in which he said there seemed to be "no reason" for such a meeting.

Bank stocks stabilized on Friday after several reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, including Truist Financial, Fifth Third Bancorp, and Huntington Bancshares. That helped steady the group a day after tumbling over potentially bad loans. The two banks at the center of Thursday's action also trimmed some of their losses. Zions Bancorp., which is charging off $50 million of loans where it found "apparent misrepresentations and contractual defaults" by borrowers, climbed 5.8% following its 13.1% loss. Western Alliance Bancorp, which is suing a borrower due to allegations of fraud, rose 3.1% after its 10.8% fall on Thursday. Scrutiny is rising on the quality of loans made following last month's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing of First Brands Group, a supplier of aftermarket auto parts. One of the financial firms that could feel pain because of First Brands' bankruptcy, Jefferies Financial Group, rose 5.9% Friday. It had come into the day with a loss of roughly 30% since mid-September.