Wall Street equity benchmarks edged higher on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump finalized a trade deal with Japan.
At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 158.7 points, or 0.36%, to 44661.12. The S&P 500 rose 17.3 points, or 0.27%, to 6326.9, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 73.8 points, or 0.35%, to 20966.467.
The trade deal sets a base tariff of 15% on imports from Japan instead of the 25% threatened by President Donald Trump.
Japan’s auto sector will see existing tariffs cut to 15% from levies totaling 27.5% earlier.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that Japan received the 15% rate on auto tariffs “because they were willing to provide this innovative financing mechanism” that he did not think other countries could replicate.
As per the deal, Japan will buy 100 Boeing jets and raise defense spending with the US firms to $17 billion annually, from $14 billion, news agency Reuters reported citing a White House official.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.37% from 4.35% late on Tuesday.
Gainers and Losers
Toymaker Hasbro’s stock fell 3% even though it reported a stronger profit for the second quarter.
Texas Instruments’ stock sank 11.3% despite delivering quarterly results above wall street estimates.
Bullion
Gold prices fell on Wednesday after the US-Japan trade deal.
As of 1351 GMT, spot gold was down 0.6% at $3,412.03 per ounce. US gold futures also slipped 0.7% to $3,421.50.
Among other metals, spot silver rose to nearly 14-year high, gaining 0.2% to $39.35 per ounce.
Platinum fell 1.4% to $1,420.92 and palladium was down 0.4% at $1,269.60.
Crude Oil
Oil prices continued its decline on Wednesday, as investors assessed global trade development.
As of 1246 GMT, Brent crude futures were down 35 cents, or 0.5%, at $68.24 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 33 cents, or 0.5%, at $64.98 per barrel.
