US stocks close higher as markets assess fresh bank woes and recession fears

Key government bond yields tumbled to six-month lows as traders wager the Fed is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

• US stocks ended higher Friday, capping off a week of Fed moves and more bank fears. 
• The 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields both notched their lowest levels in six months. 
• Deutsche Bank stock plunged as a new round of bank jitters hit the market in the wake of SVB and CS failures. 

US stocks ended higher on Friday as investors rallied to end the day in the green, throwing off new banking fears out of Europe.

All three major indexes ended the day higher, capping off another tumultuous week for markets. 

Deutsche Bank stock plunge and unsettled financial markets early in the day. The slide came as bets on the German lender defaulting on its debts soared, with the price of credit default swaps linked to its bonds posting their largest-ever single-day jump. 

Yields on key Treasury bonds were down. The 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields tumbled to six-month lows as investors wager the Federal Reserve' interest rate hikes could soon be over, and the central bank could cut rates as the economy slows. 

"Confidence is fragile, market volatility is likely to stay high, and policymakers may have to go further to make sure faith in the global financial system stays solid," Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Wealth Management. said in a note on Friday.

Haefele added: "Financial conditions are also likely to tighten, which increases the risk of a hard landing for the economy, even if central banks ease off on interest-rate hikes."

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the close at 4:00 p.m. on Friday:

• S&P 500:3,970.99, up 0.56% 
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 32,237.53, up 0.41% (132.28 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,823.96, up 0.31%

Here's what happened today:

• A recession is nearly certain in 2023, according to Fed chair Jerome Powell's preferred bond gauge,
• Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi says that the central bank is putting the US economy in jeopardy by not prioritizing the stability of the country's banking system. 
• Top metal traders say copper prices could jump 33% to as high as $12,000 per metric ton within the next year.
• Deepwater's Gene Munster says a ban on social media app TikTok is coming and that could be bad news for some US stocks. 

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1% to $69.24 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped 1.2% to $74.99.
• Gold fell 0.7% to $1,980 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury tumbled to 3.37%.
• Bitcoin fell 2% to $27,836.