Wall Street mixed; GM slumps as tariffs bite
GM (GM.N), opens new tab tumbled almost 7% after the automaker reported a $1 billion hit from tariffs to its quarterly results, adding more fuel to investor concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade policy. Shares of Ford Motor (F.N), opens new tab lost almost 1%.
Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab climbed 1.2% a day before its quarterly report, while Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, also reporting on Wednesday, rose 0.3%.
Optimism about heavy spending on artificial intelligence has underpinned a rally in Wall Street's most valuable companies, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high on Monday.
"The market is consolidating recent gains and is in a bit of a holding pattern with some huge catalysts over the next week or two, including the August 1 tariff deadline and a lot of important Magnificent Seven earnings," said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategy analyst at Baird.
Other Big Tech stocks lost ground, with Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab down 1.3% and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab dipping 0.7%.
Shares of RTX (RTX.N), opens new tab dropped 1.3% after the aerospace and defense giant t from Trump's trade war despite strong demand for its engines and aftermarket services.
Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab tumbled 8% after its quarterly profit plunged by about 80%.
U.S. trade policy remains a major point of uncertainty for investors and companies as Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline for many countries to reach agreements with the White House approaches.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would meet his Chinese counterpart next week to discuss an extension to the August 12 deadline set for tariffs on imports from China.
Other trade negotiations appeared stalled, with optimism for a breakthrough deal with India waning and EU officials weighing countermeasures against the United States.
The S&P 500 was up 0.01% at 6,306.28 points.
The Nasdaq declined 0.36% to 20,898.66 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.23% at 44,425.88 points.
Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by healthcare (.SPXHC), opens new tab, up 1.46%, followed by a 1.29% gain in real estate (.SPLRCR), opens new tab.
Philip Morris (PM.N), opens new tab slumped 7.3% after reporting second-quarter revenue below expectations, as shipments of its ZYN nicotine pouches disappointed investors.
Analysts on average expected S&P 500 companies to report a 7% increase in earnings for the second quarter, with technology heavyweights driving much of that gain, according to LSEG I/B/E/S.
After last week's mixed economic data, traders have all but ruled out an interest-rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve at next week's policy meeting. They now see about a 60% chance of a reduction in September, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.
Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX), opens new tab by a 3.8-to-one ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 17 new highs and one new low; the Nasdaq recorded 55 new highs and 39 new lows.
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Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Investors cautiously welcome US-Europe trade deal
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Investors cautiously embraced news of a trade deal Sunday between the U.S. and European Union, a move that is expected to bring clarity for companies and some certainty to markets ahead of Friday's tariffs deadline. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the United States has struck a framework trade deal with Europe. The deal includes a 15% tariff on EU goods entering the U.S. and significant EU purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment. "It's really in line with the Japan deal, and I assume investors will view it positively as they viewed the Japan deal," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lance Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey. Optimism over easing trade tensions broadly helped push U.S. stocks to record highs last week and lifted European shares to their highest since early June. Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement of sweeping global tariffs sent stocks plunging in the immediate aftermath, due to spiking fears about a recession that have since faded. Hopes for a deal with Europe were reinforced by Trump striking a trade agreement with Japan on July 23. Still, investors have been bracing for increased volatility heading into August 1, which the U.S. has set as a deadline for raising levies on a broad swath of trading partners. "The two obvious reactions that you would expect are upside in the euro and upside in equity futures. I don't think equities in particular needed much of an excuse to rally and now they've got one," said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone in London. The announcement came after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Scotland for talks with Trump to push a hard-fought deal over the line. In the agreement with Japan, the country's auto sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of its U.S. exports, will see existing tariffs cut to 15% from levies totaling 27.5% previously.
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Donald Trump launches scathing rant about windmills during EU trade talks
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DONALD Trump launched a scathing rant about windmills before announcing a trade deal with the European Union this evening. The US President, 79, struck the 'biggest of all deals' following meetings with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at Turnberry, in Ayrshire. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 President Donald Trump called wind energy a 'con job' Credit: AP 3 He went on a scathing rant about windmills and said they were 'no good' Credit: Alamy 3 It came before he announced a trade deal with the EU Credit: Getty Ms von der Leyen confirmed there would be US tariffs on goods from Europe of 15 per cent across the board. Speaking to reporters at his luxury golf resort, Mr Trump said: "We have reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody. "It's going to bring us closer together... It's a partnership in a sense." He added: "It's great that we made a deal instead of playing games". EU chief Ursula von der Leyen also hailed it as a "huge deal", which came after "tough negotiations". However, ahead of the trade talks, the Republican chief went on a scathing rant about windmills and vowed not to let another one be built in the US. We will not allow a windmill to be built in the US. They're killing us. They're killing the beauty of our scenery, our valleys, our beautiful planes President Donald Trump At a press conference with Ms von der Leyen, he called them a "con job" and said "wind doesn't work". The American leader said: "We will not allow a windmill to be built in the US. They're killing us. "They're killing the beauty of our scenery, our valleys, our beautiful planes - and I'm not talking about aeroplanes, I'm talking about beautiful planes, beautiful areas in the US - and you look up and you see windmills all over the place. "It's a horrible thing, it's the most expensive form of energy. It's no good. Trump and EU chief von der Leyen discuss trade talks ahead of breakthrough deal "They're made in China, almost all of them, and when they start to rust and rot in eight years, you can't really turn them off, you can't bury them. "They won't let you bury the propellers, the props, because they are a certain type of fibre that doesn't go well with the land, that's what they say. "The environmentalists say you can't bury them because the fibre doesn't go well with the land. In other words, if you bury it, it will harm our soil. "The whole thing is a con job - it's very expensive, and in all fairness, Germany tried it, and wind doesn't work. "You need subsidy for wind, and energy should not need subsidy. With energy, you make money; you don't lose money." Mr Trump also claimed that windmills harm animals and said they were "very expensive". It's a horrible thing, it's the most expensive form of energy. It's no good... The whole thing is a con job... wind doesn't work President Donald Trump The US has around 1,500 wind power projects with over 70,800 wind turbines, spread across a total of 44 states, according to Inspire Clean Energy. But Mr Trump slammed them for ruining the landscape and claimed that several projects in Massachusetts are causing the death of whales in the surrounding area by "driving them loco". He added: "More importantly than that is it ruins the landscape, it kills the birds, they're noisy. "You know, you have a certain place in the Massachusetts area that over the last 20 years had one or two whales wash ashore. "And over the last short period of time, they had 18, ok, cause it's driving them loco. It's driving them crazy. "Now windmills will not come, it's not going to happen in the US. It's very expensive." 'Festival of resistance' A "FESTIVAL of resistance The protest at The White Horse Inn, Balmedie, Aberdeen, is close to the Trump International Scotland golf resort. And organisers said they object to it receiving £180,000 of public funding for the Nexo Championship next month. Organiser of Stop Trump Scotland, Alena Ivanova, said: "As Donald Trump is expected to arrive at his Aberdeenshire golf course, residents and protesters are gathering in Balmedie from 3pm to continue the festival of resistance. "This message is to Donald Trump but also our elected leaders preparing to meet him: there is no place for Trumpism in Scotland." Mr Trump went on to say that they are ruining the views at his luxury Turnberry course, which he called "the best course in the world". The US President said: "I mean, today, I'm playing the best course I think in the world, Turnberry - even though I own it, it's probably the best course in the world, right - and I look over the horizon and I see nine windmills right at the end of the 18th hole. "And I said, 'Isn't that a shame? What a shame.' "You have the same thing all over, all over Europe in particular. You have windmills all over the place. "Some of the countries prohibit it, but... people ought to know, these windmills are very destructive. "They're environmentally- just the exact opposite, because the environmentalists, they're not really environmentalists, they're political hacks. "These are people that... they almost want to harm the country. I'm playing the best course I think in the world, Turnberry... and I look over the horizon and I see nine windmills. And I said, 'Isn't that a shame?' President Donald Trump "But you look at these beautiful landscapes all over the world... many countries have gotten smart and they will not allow it. They will not. "It is the worst form of energy, the most expensive form of energy, but windmills should not be allowed." It comes before the American leader is set to be pushed by Sir Keir Starmer on how to end the starvation of kids in Gaza. Earlier today, Mr Trump teed off on his second round in Turnberry after landing on Friday night, accompanied by a massive security team. Meanwhile, anti-Trump rallies across Scotland were mounted in Aberdeen and Edinburgh on Saturday as the American leader enjoyed a round of golf at his luxury Ayrshire resort. The US President landed in Scotland in a party mood after revealing his plans for a trade deal celebration with the Prime Minister and First Minister John Swinney. Mr Trump said: "We're going to do a little celebrating because we get along very well." He was welcomed by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray before being whisked to his luxury Turnberry resort 20 miles down the Ayrshire coast.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US and EU clinch deal with broad 15% tariffs on EU goods to avert trade war
TURNBERRY, Scotland, July 27 (Reuters) - The United States struck a framework trade deal with the European Union on Sunday, imposing a 15% U.S. import tariff on most EU goods, but averting a spiralling battle between two allies which account for almost a third of global trade. The announcement came after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travelled for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at his golf course in western Scotland to push a hard-fought deal over the line. "I think this is the biggest deal ever made," Trump told reporters after an hour-long meeting with von der Leyen, who said the 15% tariff applied "across the board". "We have a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world, and it's a big deal. It's a huge deal. It will bring stability. It will bring predictability," she said. The deal, that also includes $600 billion of EU investments in the United States and significant EU purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment, will indeed bring clarity for EU companies. However, the baseline tariff of 15% will be seen by many in Europe as a poor outcome compared to the initial European ambition of a zero-for-zero tariff deal, although it is better than the threatened 30% rate. The deal mirrors parts of the framework agreement the United States clinched with Japan last week. "We are agreeing that the tariff... for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15%," Trump said. However, the 15% baseline rate would not apply to steel and aluminium, for which a 50% tariff would remain in place. Trump, who is seeking to reorder the global economy and reduce decades-old U.S. trade deficits, has so far reeled in agreements with Britain, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, although his administration has failed to deliver on a promise of "90 deals in 90 days." He has periodically railed against the European Union saying it was "formed to screw the United States" on trade. Arriving in Scotland, Trump said that the EU wanted "to make a deal very badly" and said, as he met von der Leyen, that Europe had been "very unfair to the United States". His main bugbear is the U.S. merchandise trade deficit with the EU, which in 2024 reached $235 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The EU points to the U.S. surplus in services, which it says partially redresses the balance. Trump also talked on Sunday about the "hundreds of billions of dollars" that tariffs were bringing in. On July 12, Trump threatened to apply a 30% tariff on imports from the EU starting on August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. The EU had prepared countertariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. goods in the event there was no deal and Trump had pressed ahead with 30% tariffs. Some member states had also pushed for the bloc to use its most powerful trade weapon, the anti-coercion instrument, to target U.S. services in the event of a no-deal.
