Stock Market Today: Stocks inch higher amid renewed tariff concerns

Updated at 5:05 PM EDT by Rob Lenihan

Stocks ended slightly higher on Friday, snapping a four-week losing streak for the S&P 500, as investors continue to worry that President Donald Trump's tariff, immigration and budget-cutting policies will harm growth prospects in the world's biggest economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 32.03 points, or 0.08%, to finish the session at 41,985.35, while S&P 500 gained 0.08% to close at 5,667.56, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.52% and settled at 17,784.05.

Markets came off their lows after Trump said there will be “flexibility” on his reciprocal tariff plan, even as he seemed to oppose the idea of making exceptions for the forthcoming duties, according to CNBC.

“People are coming to me and talking about tariffs, and a lot of people are asking me if they could have exceptions,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “And once you do that for one, you have to do that for all."

For the week, the Dow gained 1.2%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.5%, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.2%.

Updated at 12:32 PM EDT

Comments and deals

Stocks are paring some of their earlier declines, but remain in negative territory for the session, following comments from President Trump suggesting "flexibility" for some countries when he unveils reciprocal levies on April 2.

Trump's comments came during a press event arranged to award Boeing  (BA)  to run the Pentagon's F-47 fighter jet program, topping aerospace rival Lockheed Martin  (LMT)  for the lucrative multi-year contract.

The S&P 500 was last marked 14 points, or 0.14% lower while the Nasdaq was down 14 points, or 0.08%

Boeing shares, meanwhile, were last up 4.9% at $181.22 each, while Lockheed fell 6.55% to $435.83 each.

"There will be flexibility."

US President Donald Trump on the subject of tariffs.https://t.co/XJVg5BrqQU