Stocks Bounce Back Around the World After a Week of Selling

Wall Street started Friday by shaking off an ugly six-day stretch of trading, as stocks opened higher with the help of two solid earnings reports from the financial sector.

Technology stocks, which had been hit particularly hard during the sell-off, rose sharply. The Nasdaq index gained more than 2 percent in early trading while the S&P 500 rose as much as 1.5 percent.

The gains in the United States came after rebounds in Asian and European markets. Stocks in China and Japan finished modestly higher, and markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan rose more than 2 percent. Major indexes in Britain, France and Germany were up less than 1 percent in early trading.

Trade data from China appeared to be calming investors’ anxiety. On Friday, China said exports had risen more than expected in September as a result of increases in shipments to Europe and stable trading with the United States despite escalating tensions.

The data was a reminder that global demand remains strong even amid broad concerns about rising interest rates and the strain between Washington and Beijing.

“The trade-oriented industries are still vulnerable to further escalation,” Julia Wang, an economist with HSBC, said in a research note.

In the United States, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup — the country’s largest and third-largest banks by assets — reported better-than-expected third-quarter profits, sending their share prices higher.

Investors have also been concerned about the strength of corporate earnings and the effect of U.S. sanctions on Iran, which could push up the price of oil.

“We all know that markets react emotionally sometimes, and there is plenty to be emotional about,” Christopher Smart, head of macroeconomic and geopolitical research at Barings, wrote in a note to investors.