US stocks rebounded strongly on Friday from a steep mid-week sell-off, with the gains accelerating following dovish comments from Fed president Austan Goolsbee.
The Dow Jones ripped higher by 750 points, with all three major market averages surging nearly 2%.
Goolsbee told CNBC that interest rates should continue to decline over the next 12-18 months, and was encouraged by November PCE data, which came in below expectations.
The PCE index, which is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, rose 0.1% month-over-month in November, compared to economist estimates of 0.2%. On an annual basis, the gauge rose 2.4% versus expectations of 2.5%.
While the broader stock market decline began on Wednesday following the Fed's hawkish interest rate cut, it accelerated into early Friday morning trades before the rebound materialized.
Concerns of an imminent government shutdown have also driven market volatility.
Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass a deal to avert a shutdown.
While Congress had a stopgap funding bill in place a few days ago, President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk torpedoed it, complaining about unnecessary spending measures within the bill.
A second attempt to pass a government funding bill endorsed by Trump failed in the House of Representatives late Thursday evening, with a final vote of 174 for and 235 against.
Since that vote failed, Trump endorsed a government shutdown in a post to Truth Social Friday morning.
"If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under "TRUMP." This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!" Trump said.
Trump also endorsed the elimination of the debt ceiling or extending a pause of the debt ceiling to 2029, when his second term ends.
Today could also be volatile for stocks because it is the quarterly "triple-witching" day, during which about $6.5 trillion worth of options tied to stocks and ETFs will expire.
Here's where US indexes stood at 11:54 a.m. on Friday:
Here's what else is going on:
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
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