Healthcare and energy firms power stocks’ rise

Wall Street capped a day of volatile trading with a late buying spree that sent U.S. stock indexes to a mostly higher finish Friday. Still, the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index notched its second weekly loss in four weeks.

Gains by healthcare and energy companies powered the market higher.

Stocks got a brief boost after President Trump expressed optimism that the United States and China will reach a deal to resolve their costly trade dispute.

Large retailers and media and communications companies were laggards.

“The market and market participants are more unsettled now than they have been in years,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. “We’re that much further on in the cycle, and you have these tariffs and trade wars.”

The S&P 500 index rose 6.07 points, or 0.2%, to 2,736.27. The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 123.95 points, or 0.5%, to 25,413.22. The Nasdaq composite slipped 11.16 points, or 0.2%, to 7,247.87. The Russell 2000 index ticked up 3.41 points, or 0.2%, to $1,527.53.

The S&P 500, which finished higher for the second straight day, ended the week with a loss of 1.6%.

One of the day’s market swings came as traders reacted to Trump’s remarks on U.S.-China trade. “I think a deal will be made,” Trump said. “We’ll find out very soon.” The Dow jumped as much as 220 points before pulling back to about where it was before.

Soybean futures — which have fallen sharply since the spring as the trade dispute with China led to a steep drop in China’s purchases of U.S. soybeans — climbed to $8.92 a bushel from $8.83 after Trump’s comments. They had traded as high as $10.78 a bushel in March.

Healthcare stocks were among the biggest gainers Friday. Universal Health Services rose 3.9% to $133.

California power provider PG&E surged 37.5% to $24.40 after the president of the California Public Utilities Commission said it’s essential for a power company to have the financial strength to operate safely. The remark appeared to reassure investors who worry that the company may face a torrent of costs related to the devastating Camp wildfire in Northern California. There has been speculation that PG&E’s equipment may have set off the blaze.

Fellow power company Edison International, which owns Southern California Edison and also has been facing fire-related concerns, jumped 15.4% to $54.45.

Nvidia led a sell-off in technology stocks. The chipmaker plunged 18.8% to $164.43 after saying it had a lot of unsold chips because of a big drop in the mining of cryptocurrencies.

Retailers also weighed on the market. Nordstrom dived 13.7% to $50.93 after the department store issued weak guidance for the year even though its third-quarter results beat analyst estimates. Williams-Sonoma tumbled 11.2% to $53.76 after the cookware seller said shipping congestion out of China has delayed products.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil was unchanged at $56.46 a barrel. Brent crude rose 0.2% to $66.76 a barrel. Heating oil held steady at $2.07 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline jumped 1.3% to $1.58 a gallon. Natural gas, which spiked amid forecasts of a cold snap in the Northeast and South, climbed 5.8% on Friday to $4.27 per 1,000 cubic feet. It is up about 32% this month.

Bond prices rose. The 10year Treasury fell to 3.07% from 3.11%.