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US stocks edged higher on Thursday after President Trump signaled he’s set to unveil a “major” US trade deal with the UK, boosting optimism that the tide has turned in his trade war.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) rose roughly 0.4%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) climbed around 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.1%.
Stocks are set to build on Wednesday’s rally as investors wait for Trump to reveal details of the US-UK trade agreement at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday morning. It will be the “first of many,” he wrote in a post to Truth Social late Wednesday.
“The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one,” Trump wrote in a further post on Thursday. “Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!”
Hopes are that the Trump administration has begun a pivot to dealmaking in its tariff offensive, relieving fears about the impact of trade war on the global economy. Other signs have emerged of an openness to negotiations, after the US said it plans to hold its first trade talks with China, even as Trump said he would not lower sky-high 145% tariff levels ahead of the negotiations.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Meanwhile, markets are digesting the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to hold interest rates steady. Chair Jerome Powell suggested the central bank will take a “wait and see” approach to policy, as he underlined the economic uncertainty and market volatility created by Trump’s tariff push. Trump again attacked Powell on Thursday, calling him a “fool” who “doesn’t have a clue.”
On Thursday, Wall Street will get fresh insight into consumer sentiment with the release of the inflation expectations survey from the Federal Bank of New York.
LIVE 11 updates
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Alphabet stock rebounds, Wall Street analysts defend Google after Apple’s AI search plan triggers selloff
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) stock rose about 1.4% early Thursday as several Wall Street banks defended the company following shares’ 7% drop Wednesday, which was spurred by a report that Apple (AAPL) may be looking to add AI search options to its web browser Safari.
Analysts at Jefferies, TD Cowen, Citi, and JPMorgan were among those on Wall Street maintaining a Buy or Overweight rating on the stock. Jefferies analyst Brent Thill and JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur both called the reaction to Cue’s commentary “overdone.”
Alphabet-owned Google is currently the default search option for Apple’s browser, for which it pays the iPhone maker $20 billion annually.
During testimony in the US Justice Department’s lawsuit against Alphabet, Apple’s senior vice president of services Eddy Cue said that Google searches on Safari declined for the first time last month, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Cue indicated the decline in Safari searches occurred as customers turn to AI search providers and said Apple is “actively looking at” adding AI search engines such as Perplexity to its default Safari web browser.
Read more about Wall Street’s reaction to Alphabet stock sell-off here.
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Bitcoin nears $100,000 threshold
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) traded above $99,300 on Thursday morning, just a stone’s throw from the $100,000 threshold.
Bitcoin’s 2% jump comes as President Trump is expected to detail a trade deal with the UK this morning.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has rallied 30% over the past month, outperforming the overall market as investor optimism over trade deals grows.
Year to date, bitcoin is up more than 6%.
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Stocks rise as optimism over US trade deals grow
Stocks rose on Thursday as optimism rose over trade deals between the Trump administration and its trading partners after President Trump announced a “major” deal with the UK. Trump is expected to unveil the agreement later this morning.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) jumped about 0.1% while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) increased 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.5%.
The major averages extended gains from the prior session as the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates steady. Chair Jerome Powell suggested the central bank will take a “wait and see” approach to policy,
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) gained to hover just above $99,000 on Thursday.
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Coinbase to buy bitcoin options platform Deribit for $2.9 billion: Report
The Wall Street Journal reports that Coinbase (COIN) has agreed to buy crypto options platform Deribit for roughly $2.9 billion as part of a push to enter the highly profitable crypto derivatives market.
The price includes $700 million in cash and 11 million shares of Coinbase Class A common stock, according to the Journal.
Coinbase shares jumped over 5% in premarket trading.
The purchase comes amid buoyed hopes that the IPO and M&A dealmaking market may be resuming after several deals were temporarily halted due to trade uncertainty in April.
However, Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith reports that an M&A revival still has a ways to go, as the number of deals by US companies so far this year was tracking the lowest pace since 2009. Many pushed back deals until later this year, while others “playing it by ear.”
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Peloton stock falls 5% on bigger-than-expected loss
Peloton (PTON) continues to try to dig itself out of a post-pandemic slump, but a more cautious consumer didn’t help its turnaround plans.
In its fiscal third quarter, the company reported its third consecutive year-over-year sales decline driven by a slowdown in equipment sales and subscriptions. Its loss per share of $0.12 was also wider than analysts’ estimate of $0.06.
Peloton stock fell over 5% in premarket trading.
From Reuters:
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Stocks moving in premarket trade: Nvidia, Arm, AppLovin
Here are some stocks making moves on Thursday morning, an hour and a half before the opening bell. You can find more movers on our trending tickers page.
Nvidia (NVDA): Shares rose 1.6% higher on a Bloomberg report that the Trump administration plans to repeal AI chip export restrictions. According to the report, the administration will repeal a Biden-era rule, known as the AI diffusion rule, which caps the amount of AI chips that could be exported in order to prevent smuggling to China. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stock also gained 1.5%.
Arm (ARM): Shares tumbled 8% after the chip technology provider issued a weak revenue forecast and warned about higher costs from the US-China trade war. Arm collects royalties for its chip designs. If the smartphone and tech market slow down due to tariffs, investors worry it could dent Arm’s revenue.
AppLovin (APP): The software company that helps monetize gaming apps announced it sold its mobile gaming business to Tripledot for $400 million, sending the stock rocketing 13% higher in premarket trading. AppLovin also reported 40% annual revenue growth and earnings that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations.
Shopify (SHOP): Shares dropped over 8% after the e-commerce company’s current quarter outlook disappointed Wall Street. The Canadian company forecast revenue to grow by a mid-twenties percentage for the June quarter, compared with a year earlier. Analysts were looking for 22.4% growth.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD): The company missed first quarter revenue estimates on Thursday, as it wasn’t able to offset weakness in its traditional TV business with box office hits from its studios division. Revenue fell 10% to start the year, though Warner Bros. has made a stronger start to the current quarter with titles such as “Sinners” and “A Minecraft Movie.” WBD stock dropped nearly 2% in premarket trading.
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Trump blasts Powell after rate hold, calling him a ‘fool’
President Trump took aim at Fed Chair Jerome Powell after the central bank held rates steady for the third consecutive meeting — a “wait and see” approach as the Fed gathers data on the emerging effects of Trump’s tariffs on the US economy.
In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump repeated a moniker he has been using to describe Powell — “Too Late.”
“Jerome Powell is a FOOL, who doesn’t have a clue,” Trump wrote.
In a potential nod to market jitters after he relentlessly attacked the Fed Chair last month, Trump added: “Other than that, I like him very much!”
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Utility stocks outperform S&P 500 with ‘no signs of recession’ in power demand
Yahoo Finance’s Ines Ferré reports:
Utility stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 (^GSPC) year to date as power demand surges, even as tariff uncertainty raises questions about a recession.
The S&P 500 Utilities Select ETF (XLU) is up more than 6% compared to a 4% drop for the broad-based index, an 8% drop for Tech (XLK), and an 11% decline in Consumer Discretionary (XLC) stocks. …
The sector’s outperformance comes on the heels of a 23% gain in 2024 as data center growth from an artificial intelligence boom and efforts to onshore manufacturing spurred increased demand for electricity.
That demand is going strong despite fears of a recession stemming from the global trade war.
“No signs of recession in power demand,” noted Goldman Sachs analysts on Tuesday night. “Year to date, US power demand has increased by 5.5% year over year vs. the average annual growth rate of 0.6% in the past decade.”
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Nvidia stock keeps rising on news Trump will rescind AI chip curbs
Nvidia (NVDA) shares moved up almost 2% in premarket trading, set for further gains after reports the Trump adminstration plans to rescind and replace the AI chip export curbs introduced in the Biden era.
Shares in the chipmaker’s rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also gained 2%.
Yahoo Finance’s Laura Bratton reports:
The Commerce Department confirmed the regulatory shift in a statement to Reuters and Axios, saying Biden’s AI rule was “overly complex” and “overly bureaucratic.”
“We will be replacing it with a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance,” a spokesperson said. …
The Biden-era rule, known as the AI diffusion rule, uses a tiered system to cap the amount of AI chips that could be exported to key US trading partners in an attempt to thwart chip smuggling to China through other countries. It also significantly limits the ability of US companies to expand their AI data center capacity abroad.
Read more here.
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President Trump announces upcoming trade deal on Truth Social
President Donald Trump has posted an announcement of an upcoming press conference at 10:00 a.m. Thursday to release details of a trade deal with a significant economic partner.
With no facts confirmed in the post, the belief is that the “BIG, HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY” referenced in the social post is the United Kingdom, according to an anonymous source reporting to Bloomberg.
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After-hours trending tickers
Axon Enterprise (AXON)
The Taser and body camera maker saw its stock climb over 5% after delivering a strong beat on both the top and bottom lines. Axon posted adjusted earnings of $1.41 per share on $604 million in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.27 per share and $584 million.
Bumble (BMBL)
Bumble shares surged more than 7% on Wednesday, despite a lackluster update on user growth. The dating app platform reported flat user numbers for the first quarter, while revenue declined 8% year over year to $247.1 million. Looking ahead, Bumble guided second-quarter revenue in the range of $235 million to $243 million, coming in slightly below the $243.3 million expectation.
Stock in both arms of the real estate tech company fell more than 5% in extended trading after issuing a cautious outlook on the housing market. Zillow managed to post stronger-than-expected results for Q1, reporting adjusted earnings of 41 cents per share on $598 million in revenue. Marking Zillow’s first profitable quarter since 2022.
