US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs after Supreme Court rules against Trump tariffs

By Noel Randewich and Shashwat Chauhan

Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, led by gains in Alphabet, Amazon and other Wall Street heavyweights, after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's global tariffs.

The U.S. top court, which has a conservative majority, ruled 6-3 against Trump's global tariffs, enacted last year under a federal law meant for national emergencies.

Trump called the ruling a "disgrace" and said he would impose a 10% global tariff for 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to replace some emergency duties that the Supreme Court struck down .

Investors were relieved that Trump's newly announced global tariff was not higher, said Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Today is a removal of some uncertainty, and we're on to the next phase," Dickson said.

Some of Wall Street's most valuable and widely held companies rose, with Google-parent Alphabet GOOGL.O climbing almost 4%, Amazon AMZN.O adding 2.4% and Apple AAPL.O rising 1.2%.

Shares of U.S. toymaker Mattel MAT.O, online furniture retailer Wayfair W.N, Pottery Barn-owner Williams-Sonoma WSM.N and luxury furniture retailer RH RH.N - some of the companies that were hit by the tariffs - climbed between 1% and 2%.

Thousands of companies around the world have filed lawsuits challenging Trump's sweeping tariffs and sought refunds on the duties they have paid. There is a risk more than $175 billion in U.S. tariff collections will need to be refunded, according to Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists.

The S&P 500 was up 0.57% at 6,901.01 points.

The Nasdaq gained 0.85% to 22,875.54 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.27% at 49,528.63 points.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by communication services .SPLRCL, up 2.62%, followed by a 1.08% gain in consumer discretionary .SPLRCD.

Data earlier in the day showed U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter, while a separate reading indicated inflation picked up in December. Traders see just over a 50% chance the Fed will cut interest rates by its June policy meeting, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

AI-linked technology stocks have faced turbulence in recent months due to concerns about high valuations and limited evidence that massive investments in AI are driving revenue and profit growth.

Industries ranging from software to logistics have also been hit by concerns that rapidly improving AI tools could disrupt their business models and steepen competition.

Akamai Technologies AKAM.O slumped over 10% after the cloud company forecast first-quarter adjusted profit below Wall Street estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 .AD.SPX by a 1.7-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 31 new highs and 7 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 75 new highs and 119 new lows.