Wall Street's leading index was initially traded close to zero, then rose after the White House announced that President Donald Trump is "optimistic" about China and that he is "very clear that he is open to an agreement with China".
A representative of the Federal Reserve also announced that the central bank is ready to stabilize the financial markets if the conditions become turbulent.
At closing, the S&P index landed at 1.8 percent, the Dow Jones industrial index at 1.6 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index at 2.1 percent.
China raised tariffs
The White House statement came after China earlier on Friday decided to raise tariffs to 125 percent, up from 84 percent, starting April 12.
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference that "it's not good for China" if the country "continues to strike back".
The President, as I said just a few days ago, would be grateful if China has the intention of reaching an agreement with the USA, said Leavitt.
Among Friday's winners were found, among others, Apple, which rose 4.1 percent – compared to a 4 percent decline on Thursday – and the semiconductor giant Nvidia, which rose 3.1 percent.
Dollar at lowest level
Among the other seven largest companies, often referred to as "the magnificent seven", electric car giant Tesla fell 0.1 percent and Meta 0.5 percent, while Google's parent company Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon rose 2.8 percent, 1.9 percent, and 2.0 percent, respectively.
Gold companies Newmont Corp and Barrick Gold rose 7.9 and 7.0 percent since the gold price reached new record levels.
The dollar has fallen to its lowest level since 2022 and costs only 9.78 kronor – which can be compared to 11.25 kronor per dollar in the days before Donald Trump's inauguration as the USA's president in January.
