The S&P 500 posted narrow gains Wednesday in a bout of volatile trading after data showed that the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter and investors' recession fears ramped up.

The broad market index advanced 0.15% to close at 5,569.06, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.09% to end at 17,446.34. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 141.74 points, or 0.35%, settling at 40,669.36.

While the S&P 500 and the Dow ultimately notched their seventh consecutive winning day, investors endured a rocky session. At their lows, the S&P 500 was down nearly 2.3%, while the Dow slid more than 780 points.

First quarter gross domestic product declined at a 0.3% rate, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday, a rapid reversal from a 2.4% increase in the fourth quarter. Some traders noted that the figures were skewed by a 41% surge in imports in the last quarter as companies looked to get ahead of President Donald Trump's tariffs. The report also showed a big slowdown in consumer spending and a decline in government expenditures amid Elon Musk's DOGE cuts.

Other data pointed to an economy that was still hanging in there. Consumer spending in the first quarter grew at its slowest quarterly pace since 2023. A separate report showed that spending was up 0.7% in March, topping the 0.5% economists expected.

A rocky April

In a post on Truth Social, Trump blamed a "Biden 'Overhang'" following the weak GDP numbers, telling people to "BE PATIENT!!!" and that his policies "will take a while" to take effect.

"The continual sequence of policy reversals has led to very high levels of uncertainty for businesses and investors," said Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X ETFs. "This report should be a canary in the coal mine for the new administration, but perhaps their willingness to inflict economic pain in pursuit of the long-term goals was underestimated."

Traders managed to look past the sour data and get back into a buying mood late Wednesday, capping a remarkable comeback in stocks for April.

Trump's sweeping "reciprocal" tariff announcement on April 2 sent the stock market into a tailspin, with the S&P 500 down more than 11% at one point for the month and off by nearly 20% from its February record. A rebound ensued as Trump walked back the stiffer duties.

Ultimately, the S&P 500 ended April with a roughly 0.8% loss, while the Dow was down 3.2% for the period. It was the third straight losing month for both. The Nasdaq posted a nearly 0.9% advance for the month.