Bessent: China trade standoff unsustainable
The stock market shot up sharply on Wednesday following news of a potential de-escalation in the trade war with China and after President Trump said he has no plans to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared over 1,000 points, or 2.6% in early trading, after making similar headway yesterday. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also made gains, climbing 168 points, or 3.2%, and 664 points or 4.1%, respectively.
The market will “more likely than not continue to be dictated by Trump’s latest whims regarding tariffs and trade,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
Stocks across Asia and Europe climbed in response to the news that there may be some tariff relief on the horizon. This follows a gloomy report from the International Monetary Fund released yesterday that said the global economy will slow this year, with growth forecasted at 2.8%, down from 3.3% in January. U.S. growth is also expected to decline a full percentage point from last year to 1.8%.
Tesla stock, which has been on a downward trajectory since December, jumped more than 4% on Wednesday after CEO Elon Musk told investors on an earnings call Tuesday that he’s scaling back his work at the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Tesla’s sales and profits tumbled this quarter, according to the company’s earnings report yesterday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. Before joining the business and finance vertical, she worked at “60 Minutes”, CBSNews.com, and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.
