US STOCKS-Wall Street ends higher as investors cheer Greenland framework deal, averted tariffs

By David French

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest one-day percentage gain in two months, as investors were buoyed by news that a framework for an agreement on Greenland had been reached and the possibility of new U.S. tariffs on European allies had been averted.

Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI and Nasdaq Composite .IXIC also enjoyed milestone days, gaining the most in percentage terms since January 5 and December 19, respectively.

The advances stood in stark contrast to the previous day's selloff, which had been the worst daily performance by all three benchmarks since October 10, and reflected the latest episode of U.S. President Donald Trump initially using tariff threats to push his agenda before rolling back the rhetoric when a policy victory could be declared.

"We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st."

Wall Street benchmarks had been trading in positive territory at the time of the announcement, but soared in its wake as investors cheered the aversion of a potential new tariff war over the future of Greenland.

"I don't think who owns Greenland has any immediate impact on anything, in terms of economics," said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy & research at Glenmede.

"What is the economic impact is whether we all start imposing tariffs on each other," he added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 588.64 points, or 1.21%, to 49,077.23, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 78.76 points, or 1.16%, to 6,875.62 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 270.50 points, or 1.18%, to 23,224.83.

MOMENTUM SWINGS

Before the mid-afternoon Greenland announcement, Wall Street had been broadly positive, as investors responded to Tuesday's bruising selloff. However, while initial momentum had propelled benchmarks more than 1% higher, this energy had been ebbing by early afternoon.

While light on details, Trump's announcement allowed markets to focus on underlying strengths within the U.S. economy, including strong earnings from banks.

The latest wave of results from lenders, including some of the largest superregional names, helped send the regional banking index .KRX soaring 4.7% to its highest close since November 2024.

Citizens Financial Group CFG.N surged 7.1%, to a record closing high, on the back of a 31.7% jump in quarterly profit. Truist Financial Corp TFC.N climbed 1.8% after recording higher interest income and fees from investment banking.

POSITIVE ENERGY

All the S&P 500 subsectors rose, led by energy .SPNY. It was buoyed by Halliburton HAL.N, which gained 4.1% after earnings beat estimates, while EQT Corp EQT.N and Expand Energy EXE.O advanced 6.5% and 4.5% respectively, as natural gas prices hit a six-week high on cold weather.

United Airlines UAL.O rose 2.2% after the carrier issued an upbeat outlook for the current quarter and the full year. Other airlines benefited from the positive sentiment, with Delta Air Lines DAL.N, American Airlines AAL.O and Southwest LUV.N all gaining between 1.1% and 2.4%.

Meanwhile, Netflix NFLX.O dropped 2.2% after reporting a muted outlook in its latest earnings. The streaming giant's stock was also weighed by a pause in share buybacks to help fund the purchase of Warner Bros Discovery's WBD.O studio and streaming businesses.

Kraft Heinz KHCO> fell 5.7% after a regulatory filing showed Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N may shed its 27.5% stake in the consumer company.