(Recasts with preliminary close of trading)

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Trump says 100% tariffs on China not sustainable

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Eli Lilly ( LLY ) falls after Trump vows weight-loss drug price

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Latest regional bank results ease credit worries

By Noel Randewich and Twesha Dikshit

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended higher on Friday as

investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump's latest remarks

on China, while quarterly results from regional banks eased

concerns about credit risks.

Trump said his proposed 100% tariff on goods from China would

not be sustainable, but blamed Beijing for the latest impasse in

trade talks that began with Chinese authorities tightening

control over rare earth exports. Trump unveiled the new tariffs

a week ago, along with new export controls on "any and all

critical software," to go into effect on November 1.

"The market doesn't really know what to take when Donald

Trump speaks," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at

Dakota Wealth. "There's just a lot of back-and-forth comments

with regards to China and trade tariffs and pretty much

everything else."

Regional bank stocks rebounded following a selloff on

Thursday, when Zions Bancorporation disclosed losses

tied to two commercial and industrial loans and Western Alliance

revealed it had initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by

Cantor Group V, LLC.

"There's a lot more bark than bite on the credit fears,"

said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital.

"Looking through all the big banks' results, credit is very

good. Overall, there are very few pockets of weakness."

Truist Financial ( TFC ) gained after the bank reported

higher third-quarter profit. Fifth Third Bancorp ( FITB ) rose,

Zions shares rebounded from losses the day before, and Western

Alliance also advanced.

The S&P Composite 1500 Regional Banks index

climbed after tumbling almost 6% the day before.

The S&P 500 financial sector index, which includes

the largest U.S. banks, also rose.

Robust earnings from JPMorgan ( JPM ) and other big banks

this week helped get the third-quarter earnings season off to an

upbeat start. Analysts on average see S&P 500 earnings climbing

9.3% in the third quarter, an improvement from expectations of

8.8% at the start of October, according to LSEG I/B/E/S.

Following a nearly 14% gain in 2025, the S&P 500 is valued

at 23 times expected earnings, its priciest level in five years.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained

33.37 points, or 0.50%, to end at 6,662.44 points, while the

Nasdaq Composite gained 113.61 points, or 0.50%, to

22,676.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.83

points, or 0.51%, to 46,188.07.

The three main U.S. indexes registered weekly gains.

The CBOE volatility index, investors' fear gauge,

dropped to 21.5 points after hitting its highest level in nearly

six months at 28.99 earlier in the day.

Wall Street's most valuable companies were mixed, with Tesla

and Apple ( AAPL ) rising, and Amazon ( AMZN ) falling.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) fell after Trump said he would bring down

prices of weight-loss drugs.

State Street dropped after the bank's third-quarter net

interest income missed estimates.