Wall Street ends higher after Fed chief's comments

US stocks finished higher on Friday, rebounding from early declines after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was "in a good place," but uncertainty about US trade policy led to Wall Street's biggest weekly decline in months.

Powell said the central bank will not be quick to cut interest rates and echoed concerns about President Donald Trump's policies.

Markets have been roiled this week by uncertainty about Trump's tariff decisions on imported goods from Canada, Mexico and China.

The benchmark S&P 500 finished with its biggest weekly loss since September. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also registered their third straight week of declines, the longest losing streak since mid-July and early August last year.

Powell said the Fed will take a cautious approach to monetary policy easing, adding the economy currently "continues to be in a good place".

"Powell is echoing what the rest of us feel: unease that while the adjustments made by the administration may well work and put the country on better financial footing, the speed and whipsaw-like nature of the change makes it difficult to predict and to plan around," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia. "So, the best action when that occurs is to sit and wait."

Stocks fell in choppy early trade, but rebounded after Powell's comments. The three main indexes ended the week lower, with In the previous session, the Nasdaq confirmed a 10 per cent drop from its December all-time high.

Utilities, energy, technology and industrials were the biggest gainers among the S&P 500's 11 main sectors. Consumer discretionary, financials and consumer staples were the biggest drag.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 222.64 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 42,801.72, the S&P 500 gained 31.68 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 5,770.20 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 126.97 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 18,196.22.

For the week, the S&P 500 ended down 3.1 per cent, the Nasdaq declined 3.45 per cent, and the Dow fell 2.37 per cent. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index fell 3.86 per cent.

Data early on Friday showed US job growth picked up in February from the previous month. However, thousands of recent firings of federal workers were not reflected in the data.

Unemployment ticked up to 4.1 per cent, adding to worries about the economy's resilience. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have lowered their growth forecasts for the economy.

"This is a growth scare," said Adam Hetts, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors. "This is what it feels like to go from a no-landing to a soft-landing environment and it's unpleasant. It involves a spate of unpleasant economic data, and the primary driver being weaker consumer spending."

On Thursday, Trump offered a four-week reprieve on tariffs he imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under a free-trade pact. The US remains in a trade war with China.

Reciprocal trade barriers and other duties are expected to take effect in the following weeks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise slumped 12 per cent after saying its annual profit forecast would be hit by US tariffs.

Costco fell 6.0 per cent after the retailer missed Wall Street estimates on quarterly earnings as merchandise costs increased.

Broadcom gained 8.6 per cent after the chipmaker assuaged investor worries about artificial intelligence infrastructure demand with a strong second-quarter forecast.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.35-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 92 new highs and 136 new lows on the NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 8 new 52-week highs and 13 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 159 new lows.

About 16.92 billion worth of shares were traded across US exchanges, compared with the 20-day moving average of 16.23 billion shares.