NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ticking higher Friday after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which had triggered panic in financial markets when announced last year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. It had been flipping between small gains and losses earlier in the morning following discouraging reports showing slowing growth for the U.S. economy and faster inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 124 points, or 0.3%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.1% higher.

Many on Wall Street were likely expecting such a ruling from the Supreme Court, according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. That likely led to the relatively muted reactions across financial markets.

Treasury yields edged only a bit higher in the bond market. Stock indexes in Europe added some to their gains from earlier in the day, while the U.S. dollar's value edged down against the euro and other currencies.

Gold’s price slipped from nearly $5,075 per ounce just before the ruling toward $5,000 before climbing back. It had surged to records earlier this year in part on worries about the uncertainty Trump’s tariffs created for businesses and households worldwide.

Despite the Supreme Court's blocking Trump from levying sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every country in the world, tariffs may not be going away. Jacobsen said he expects Trump's White House to shift strategy and use tariffs that target specific countries or industries.

“This will give some short-lived relief as it just delays the inevitable of tariffs from a different authority,” he said.

Heading into the day, the main event for markets had seemed to be the discouraging reports showing slowing U.S. economic growth and accelerating inflation. But they also found a relatively muted response from investors. While the data underscored the tricky situation the Federal Reserve faces as it sets interest rates, they did not change traders’ expectations much for what the Fed will ultimately do.

Following the reports, traders are still mostly betting that the Fed will lower rates at least twice by the end of this year, according to data from CME Group. Some shifted bets for the timing of when the cuts could begin to slightly later in the summer.

Source: WPLG