Wall Street ends whipsaw week on upbeat note

Wall Street's main stock indexes climbed more than 1 per cent on Friday, giving investors some solace after a week of huge swings that shook the market out of months of calm.

Even with Friday's gains, the benchmark S&P 500 fell 5.2 per cent for the week, its biggest weekly percentage drop since January 2016, as volatility spiked back up.

During Friday's session alone, the S&P 500 swung from as high as up 2.2 per cent to down 1.9 per cent, echoing the big swings of the past week. The Dow moved in a range of more than 1,000 points.

The fresh volatility came a day after the benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow industrials confirmed they were in correction territory, both falling more than 10 per cent from January 26 record highs. 

Friday's session marked the latest day of sharp swings in the past week that have pulled stocks lower after a steady climb for months to record highs.

"I don't think the market is focused on fundamentals at all," Anwiti Bahuguna, senior portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments in Boston. "It's very volatile."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 330.44 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 24,190.9, the S&P 500 gained 38.55 points, or 1.49 per cent, to 2,619.55 and the Nasdaq Composite added 97.33 points, or 1.44 per cent, to 6,874.49.