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US stocks wavered Thursday as investors responded to mixed signals from President Trump on trade and the Fed. The fluctuations reflect ongoing market unease amid a stream of conflicting messages from the administration.
Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) fell 0.3%. Futures attached to the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) hovered below the flatline.
CBOT – Delayed Quote USD
As of 7:14:06 AM EDT. Market Open.
YM=F ES=F NQ=F
On Wednesday, stocks rallied after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is considering reducing tariffs on China. The news seemed to confirm recent comments by Trump that he was optimistic about a trade deal and duties on the country would ultimately be scaled back.
The rally lost some steam, however, when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied the report, saying there has been “no unilateral offer from the president to deescalate” the trade war with China.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Though Wall Street cautiously welcomed signs Trump is eager to negotiate on trade, later on Wednesday, his approach to key tariffs grew more muddled.
The Financial Times reported that the Trump administration is considering exempting automakers from the most punishing auto tariffs, yet Trump said from the Oval Office that a 25% tariff on cars imported from Canada could increase.
Finally, the White House ordered a probe into truck imports, paving the way for tariffs on the sector.
IBM (IBM) shares dropped 7% on Thursday after revealing 15 government contracts were impacted by cost cuts from the Trump administration.
Chipotle (CMG) shares fell over 3% after its first quarter earnings missed expectations and it lowered its 2025 forecast.
On Thursday, Wall Street’s attention will shift to Alphabet earnings. While investors don’t expect the company’s results to be impacted by Trump’s trade war yet, they’ll be watching for any warning signs of how tariffs could hit the business in the near future.
Intel is also reporting earnings after-the-bell on Thursday. The results will be the company’s first under the leadership of its new CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
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PepsiCo normally doesn’t cut guidance
The market bears can add a rare earnings warning from PepsiCo (PEP) to their arsenal against the bulls.
Having covered PepsiCo for about 15 years, I can tell you it’s not the norm they cut guidance. The company takes guidance super seriously, maybe too seriously.
Yet here we are in a trade war and PepsiCo now sees no earnings growth in 2025. It previously expected low-single digit percentage growth.
Couple this with the Chipotle (CMG) warning last night, and you get a picture of a consumer starting to retrench due to tariff related economic concerns.
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Chipotle drops after earnings miss highlights consumer pull back
Chipotle’s (CMG) stock dropped 3% on Thursday after its first quarter report missed expectations and it lowered its 2025 forecast.
Yahoo Finance’s senior reporter Brooke DiPalma looks into how the burrito maker has performed in a slowing economy:
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IBM stock falls as 15 contracts hit by DOGE cost cuts
IBM (IBM) shares fell over 7% on Thursday after the company revealed that 15 of its government contracts were canceled under a cost-cutting drive by the Trump administration.
Reuters reports:
The $100 million setback overshadowed its better-than-expected first-quarter results and an upbeat revenue forecast, adding to investor uncertainty despite IBM’s efforts to boost transparency and maintain growth targets.
The federal consulting businesses of Big Blue’s rivals, such as Accenture, have also taken a hit from belt-tightening efforts by the US administration and its Department of Government Efficiency.
The impacted contracts amounted to about $100 million, which was less than 1% of the order backlog in IBM’s consulting unit, finance chief James Kavanaugh told Reuters on Wednesday.
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Gold rebounds after biggest drop this year as dip-buyers step in
Gold (GC=F) bounced back after its biggest single-day drop of the year, as traders weighed conflicting messages from the US on China tariffs.
Bloomberg News reports:
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Dollar falters in bounce back from tariff downward dive
The dollar (DX=F) pulled back from a recent rebound late Thursday as President Donald Trump walked back his unsubstantiated threats to remove Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell from office.
Reuters reports:
After dipping below 140 yen on Tuesday, the dollar has rebounded off major chart support and was last at 143.25 yen on Thursday.
It caught an extra boost when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. did not have a specific currency target in mind, ahead of talks with his Japanese counterpart. Bessent has also said the current de-facto embargo on U.S.-China trade was unsustainable, while cautioning that the U.S. would not move first in lowering its levies of more than 100% on Chinese goods.
The dollar has recovered from a three-and-a-half-year low of $1.1572 per euro, but encountered a little selling in the Asia morning to steady around $1.1338.
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Trending tickers in after-hours trading
Chipotle (CMG)
After a rocky earnings report announcing that Chipotle missed the mark while lowering expectations for the year, Chipotle stock sank in after-hours trading. The fast food giant reported earnings of 29 cents per share and revenue of $2.88 billion falling short of the $2.94 billion analysts were looking for. The company’s stock dropped by 4% on futures opening before pulling back to a 2.3% loss in value.
International Business Machine (IBM)
IBM shares spiked before falling over 6.7% in extended trading Thursday, despite the fact that the tech giant posted better-than-expected Q1 results. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.60 per share on $14.54 billion in revenue, topping Wall Street estimates of $1.40 and $14.40 billion.
News that DOGE price saving measures led to 15 contracts between IBM and the US government being cut drove stock cost down.
Texas Instruments (TXN)
Shares of Texas Instruments surged 4.7% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the chipmaker delivered a strong first-quarter beat that reassured investors. The company posted earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $4.07 billion, outpacing Wall Street forecasts of $1.07 per share and $3.91 billion,
