Wall Street choppy as markets juggle trade war news
NEW YORK: Wall Street's main indexes moved higher in volatile trading on Tuesday as a mixed bag of corporate earnings, soft economic data and fresh developments on the US-China trade front kept investors on the sidelines.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted China could lose 10 million jobs quickly due to tariffs, but signaled progress on trade deals with other countries including Japan and India.
The world's two largest economies have slapped tit-for-tat import tariffs on each other and uncertainty around the state of negotiations between the two has kept markets on edge.
There is still some optimism around 'what will likely be deals with India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea', but talks with China will likely be 'the last pin to fall', said Patriarch Organization CEO Eric Schiffer.
A day after US officials said the Trump administration will move to reduce the impact of automotive tariffs, shares of Ford were only marginally higher and Tesla fell 0.6%.
The blue-chip Dow got a boost as Honeywell jumped 5.4% on reporting a rise in adjusted profit for the first quarter. Paintmaker Sherwin-Williams gained 5% after its quarterly profit beat estimates.
However, General Motors fell 1.6% after the automaker pulled its annual forecast due to tariff uncertainty.
The day's data releases also pointed to an increasingly murky economic outlook. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped to its lowest reading since May 2020, while job openings came in at 7.19 million in March, below estimates of 7.48 million.
'We're just in this eye of the storm ... for a lot of investors, consumers, and business leaders wondering what the future looks like as potential tariffs kick in down the road,' said Matthew Stucky, chief portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management.
At 11:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 243.76 points, or 0.61%, to 40,471.35, the S&P 500 gained 13.75 points, or 0.25%, to 5,542.50 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 26.30 points, or 0.15%, to 17,392.44.
More economic data, including nonfarm payrolls, is expected this week, and results from many of the 'Magnificent Seven' group of megacap stocks are also due, with investors hawk-eyed on any signs of tariff impact on their outlook.
All three major indexes remain down for the year, despite the S&P 500 logging its best winning streak since November on Monday.
HSBC became the latest brokerage to trim its year-end target for the S&P 500 index, cutting it to 5,600 from 6,700 earlier.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
10 hours ago
- Business Recorder
TSX rises on energy boost; US-China talks in focus
Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday as rising oil prices boosted the energy sector, while investors awaited key developments from the second day of the U.S.-China trade negotiations. The S&P/TSX composite index, up 0.2% at 26,420.31 points, was hovering near the record high levels reached on Friday. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said trade talks with China were going well as the two sides met for a second day in London. Any progress in the negotiations is likely to bring relief to the markets given that President Donald Trump's often-shifting tariff announcements and swings in U.S.-China ties have affected global supply chains and economic growth worldwide. 'The Canadian markets are benefiting from obviously the optimism and the positive direction of U.S. equity markets,' said Matt Skipp, President of SW8 Asset Management. 'And I think the U.S. markets are moving higher on the assumption that Trump will not do anything that will hurt American assets, equities etc.' White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday the U.S. was likely to agree to lift export controls on some semiconductors in return for China speeding up the delivery of rare earths. Almost all major sectors were trading in the green on the TSX, with energy shares leading the way as oil prices advanced, buoyed by U.S.-China trade talks and a dip in Saudi Arabian crude supply to China. Consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors gained 1% and 0.7%, respectively. Bucking the trend, the materials sector was down almost 1%. Looking ahead, markets will focus on Wednesday's U.S. inflation report, which will influence expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
Business Recorder
10 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Wall Street mixed as US-China trade talks grab focus
Wall Street's main indexes were mixed on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of ongoing trade talks between the United States and China aimed at cooling a tariff dispute that has bruised global markets this year. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said trade talks with China were going well as officials from the two sides met for a second day in London. Investors are hoping for an improvement in ties after the relief around a preliminary deal struck last month gave way to fresh doubts when Washington accused Beijing of blocking exports critical to sectors such as aerospace, semiconductors and defense. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday the U.S. was likely to agree to lift export controls on some semiconductors in return for China speeding up the delivery of rare earths. 'I think these issues will be resolved, but I think it's still early days … but the fact that they're talking certainly is positive,' said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial. 'We're not making progress yards at a time, but inches at a time.' At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.22 points, or 0.05%, to 42,742.88, the S&P 500 gained 10.30 points, or 0.17%, to 6,016.18 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 53.92 points, or 0.28%, to 19,645.16. Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, led by energy with a 1.7% gain, tracking strength in oil prices. Communication services stocks added 0.9%. Wall Street mixed with focus on US-China trade talks U.S. equities rallied sharply in May, with the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq marking their best monthly gains since November 2023, helped by upbeat earnings reports and a softening of President Donald Trump's harsh trade stance. The S&P 500 remains about 2% below all-time highs touched in February, while the Nasdaq is about 2.6% below its record peaks reached in December. Investors are awaiting U.S. consumer prices data on Wednesday for clues on the Federal Reserve's rate trajectory. The World Bank slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by 0.4 percentage point to 2.3%, saying higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a 'significant headwind' for nearly all economies. Shares of McDonald's fell 1.4%, weighing on the blue-chip Dow Index, after a report Redburn Atlantic downgraded the fast-food giant to 'sell' from 'buy'. Most megacap and growth stocks were mixed. Tesla shares advanced 2.6%. Insmed shares jumped 27.7% after the drugmaker said its experimental drug significantly reduced blood pressure in the lungs and improved exercise capacity in patients in a mid-stage study. U.S.-listed shares of Tencent Music Entertainment Group advanced 2.2% after the Chinese company said it would buy domestic long-form audio platform Ximalaya for about $2.4 billion in cash and stock. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.52-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.76-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 7 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 42 new highs and 29 new lows.
Business Recorder
13 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Iran says new round of US talks planned for Sunday
TEHRAN: Iran said a new round of nuclear talks with the United States is planned for Sunday, after Washington submitted a proposal for a deal amid a standoff over uranium enrichment. The longtime foes have held five rounds of talks since April, the highest level contact since President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from a 2015 nuclear accord during his first term. 'The next round of Iran-US indirect talks is being planned for next Sunday in Muscat,' Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement Tuesday. Trump had earlier said the meeting with Iran was expected on Thursday but Baqaei noted that Iran's foreign minister and chief negotiator Abbas Araghchi would be attending the Norway's Oslo Forum, a gathering of conflict mediators. The sixth round of talks will come around two weeks after Iran received a US proposal for nuclear deal which Araghchi described as containing 'ambiguities'. Iran said the US proposal failed to include 'elements' reflective of the previous negotiations including lifting of sanctions – a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. Tehran said it would present a 'reasonable, logical and balanced' counter-proposal to the United States through mediator Oman. On Monday, Trump said the upcoming US-Iran talks could clarify if a nuclear deal is possible to avoid military action. Iran says to submit own nuclear proposal to US soon Iran and the United States have been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a 'non-negotiable' right and Washington calling it as a 'red line'. 'National interests' Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. On Tuesday, Iran's deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi dismissed claims that there was a 'deadlock' in the talks with the US. 'Any negotiations with an international dimension come with their own sensitivities and require a great deal of patience for them to reach a result,' he told the official IRNA news agency. 'What matters to us is that we can safeguard the national interests of the country through these talks, and that is how we proceed,' he added. He said that the sixth round will be the first in which the parties express their views on the exchanged written materials, noting that Tehran will again reiterate its position on enrichment capacity, as it has done publicly in the past. On Monday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog began a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna that will last until Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear activities among other topics. The meeting came after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report criticising 'less than satisfactory' cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites. Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on 'forged documents' provided by its arch foe Israel. On Tuesday, Araghchi reiterated criticism of a plan by European powers and the United States to adopt a resolution at the IAEA meeting, accusing Tehran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations. 'Any ill-considered and destructive decision in the Board of Governors against Iran will be met with an appropriate response,' he said during a phone call with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. Iran has said it would reduce cooperation with the IAEA if the resolution passed.
