Stocks moved higher in early trading Wednesday after Donald Trump’s top trade official said there could be a compromise on recently implemented tariffs against Canada and Mexico.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were recently up 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% The major indexes are coming off of two straight days of steep losses amid concerns about the potential impact of the tariffs and broader worries about the health of the U.S. economy,
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during an interview with Fox Business late Tuesday that Trump had been in discussions with officials from Mexico and Canada, and that the White House would likely announce an agreement today with the countries that meets them “in the middle.” The U.S. early Tuesday imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, while doubling the levy on Chinese imports to 20%.
The comments from Lutnick came as Trump, during a speech to Congress, defended tariffs as a critical measure to create jobs and generate revenue. Critics say the trade measures will spark inflation, disrupt economic activity and harm companies that do business around the world, especially as other countries take retaliatory steps.
Shares of automakers, which stand to be particularly hard hit by tariffs, were gaining ground in early trading Wednesday. Shares of General Motors (GM) were up nearly 5%, Ford (F) rose 3%, Jeep and Chrysler maker Stellantis (STLA) surged 7% and Toyota Motor (TM) jumped 6%.
Mega-cap technology stocks were mostly higher this morning, let by a 2.5% gain for chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO), which is scheduled to release quarterly results after tomorrow’s closing bell. Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) also moved higher, while Apple (AAPL) was down 1.5%.
Shares of CrowdStrike (CRWD) tumbled more than 10% after the cybersecurity provider released quarterly results late yesterday that came in below analysts’ expectations.
Investors were also reacting to data released this morning that painted a mixed picture of the economy. Private sector payrolls numbers released by ADP came in weaker than expected, while data on services sector activity and factory orders were higher than economists anticipated. The big data point of the week comes Friday morning, when the February jobs report is slated for release.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which fell to its lowest level since December on Tuesday amid mounting investor concerns about the economy, was at 4.24% in recent trading, up from 4.21% at yesterday’s close.
Bitcoin was trading at $89,100, up from an overnight low of $86,300. Gold futures were up slightly at $2,920 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped more than 3% to $66.05 per barrel.
S&P 500 Back to Where it Was Before Trump Election
1 hr 11 min ago
The U.S. stock market got a big boost after the election of Donald Trump amid optimism about the new administration’s pro-business approach. Major stock indexes, which all surged to record highs in recent months, have given back those post-election gains.
The S&P 500 closed Tuesday at its lowest level since Election Day on Nov. 5. The benchmark index is down 6% from its all-time closing high, which was set just two weeks ago. The Nasdaq Composite closed below its Nov. 5 level on Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial average is up less than 1% from its pre-election level.
Heading into Wednesday’s session, all three indexes are in negative territory for 2025.
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Major Stock Index Futures Point to Higher Open
2 hr 7 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%.
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S&P 500 futures also rose 0.2%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.4%.
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