Source: Sharecast
By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrials Average had added 1.07% or 254.69 points to trade at 24,103.11, alongside a rise of 1.38% or 35.87 points on the S&P 500 to 2,640.87 and a 1.64% or 114.22 point gain for the Nasdaq Composite to 7,063.44.
For the quarter, the S&P 500 edged lower by 1.2%; however, by the end of trading on Friday it was down by 8.1% from the record high of 2,872.87 hit on 26 January, having fallen by more than 10% from that most recent high at one point during the previous week - thus meeting the technical definition of a 'correction'.
Pacing gains in New York at the end of the week were: Non-ferrous metals (4.90%), Coal Index (4.47%), Industrial Metals (3.64%), Marine Transportation (3.57%) and Iron&Steel (3.44%).
Alongside those advancers, the CBoE's volatility index fell back 12.68% to 19.97, versus a near-record low of 11.04 plumbed at the end of 2017 and a near-term high of 37.53 reached on 5 February.
Earlier in the session, CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson had mused: "Looking back over recent events, as we come to the end of what will be a negative month, and a negative quarter for stocks, it’s probably an opportune time to analyse recent events to determine how we got here. The quarter started in such a promising fashion with new records as well as multi year highs being set, as January came and went.
"The passing of tax reform proposals in the US should have been the catalyst for further gains, along with an improving jobs market and rising wages, while economic activity indicators across Europe were at much higher levels than they are now. Since then the wheels have come off to a certain extent, and as we head into Q2 investors will have to decide over the Easter break whether the worst is over or whether there is more to come."
The S&P 500 lost 2.68% in March, but at one point was down by nearly 5% for the month.
Dealmaking surpasses Q1 2017 record
Corporate dealmaking volumes rose past $1.2trn over the first quarter of 2018, marking the fastest start ever in M&A for a year, the FT reported, citing Thomson Reuters data.
Activity was 67% higher versus 2017 and roughly a third more than what was seen in the first quarter 2007, when the previous record was set.
Underscoring the intensity of recent M&A, overnight CME Group clinched a deal to buy NEX Group for £3.9bn. It came alongside the acquisition of RSP Permian by Concho Resources for $8.0bn.
In other corporate news on Friday, Constellation Brands was higher after the release of its fourth-quarter results, which saw the company lift its dividend by 42%.
GameStop's shares skidded nearly 11% lower after the video game retailer issued full-year earnings per share guidance the midpoint of which, at $3.18, was well below the $3.32 analysts polled by FactSet had penciled-in.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com managed to reverse early losses and finish up by 1.11% even after the US president again took aim at the internet retailer on Twitter.
Stock in Facebook traded 4.42% higher to $159.79.
Yield curve flattens a tad more
On the economic front, the Department of Labor reported a 12,000 person drop in the number of initial weekly unemployment claims to reach 215,000 (consensus: 230,000), sparking talk of a drop in the rate of unemployment below 4%.
Separately, the Department of Commerce said real personal spending was flat in February after dipping by 0.2% in the month before, as Americans rebuilt their depleted personal savings after a surge in spending at the end of 2017. Nevertheless, personal income and spending printed in-line with forecasts last month, at up by 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.
The latest readings on MNI's Chicago purchasing managers' index and the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index came in shy of forecasts.
Worth noting, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Tresury note ended the session four basis points lower at 2.74%, 33 basis points higher than at the end of 2017 but below the 2.95% mark hit on 22 January.
The yield on two-year notes was down by one basis point at 2.27%, narrowing the difference with the ten-year note, which was already at a more than ten-year low, to 47.3 basis points.
Dow Jones - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $52.08 5.00%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $42.89 2.95%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $74.61 2.47%
Visa Inc. (V) $119.62 2.25%
Boeing Co. (BA) $327.88 2.11%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $91.27 2.10%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $178.24 2.04%
American Express Co. (AXP) $93.28 2.03%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $251.86 1.86%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $109.97 1.82%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $214.00 -2.06%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $156.38 -1.28%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $54.47 -1.13%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $114.07 -0.54%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.82 -0.40%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $138.88 0.05%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $63.71 0.11%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.43 0.25%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $147.38 0.27%
General Electric Co. (GE) $13.48 0.30%
S&P 500 - Risers
Centene Corp. (CNC) $106.87 5.67%
Clorox Co. (CLX) $133.08 5.33%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $16.13 5.29%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $151.45 5.15%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $63.02 5.03%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $52.08 5.00%
Allergan plc (AGN) $168.25 4.97%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $35.19 4.92%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $231.59 4.63%
Church Dwight Co Inc. (CHD) $50.36 4.57%
S&P 500 - Fallers
GameStop Corp. (GME) $12.62 -9.08%
Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN) $34.68 -7.79%
Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS) $212.94 -2.86%
Dominion Energy Inc. (D) $67.43 -2.59%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $118.39 -2.45%
Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (DNB) $117.02 -2.39%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $214.00 -2.06%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $18.42 -1.97%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $49.53 -1.84%
CBS Corp. (CBS) $51.40 -1.81%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $52.08 5.00%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $231.59 4.63%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $356.39 4.45%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $159.79 4.42%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $110.41 3.85%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $182.36 3.59%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $203.16 3.54%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $149.39 3.36%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $295.35 3.35%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $266.13 3.24%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $65.47 -3.14%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $83.33 -1.92%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $31.31 -1.70%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $30.43 -1.23%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $58.00 -1.09%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $69.08 -0.93%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $235.65 -0.44%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $204.27 -0.41%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $37.36 -0.08%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $57.89 -0.02%