US stocks rise again on more benign Trump tone on China

US stocks rise again on more benign Trump tone on China

Equities stay in the positive range throughout the day as markets cheer trade headlines with less negative impact.

US market
Tesla surged 5.4% despite weaker earnings as CEO Elon Musk announced he would shift his attention back to the electric carmaker. (AP pic)
NEW YORK:
Wall Street stocks posted solid gains for a second straight session Wednesday as markets continued to cheer the Trump administration’s more conciliatory tone on trade negotiations with China.

Equities spent the entire day in positive territory as market watchers also pointed to Trump’s statements that he had no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.1% at 39,606.57.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.7% to 5,375.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.5% to 16,708.05.

A day after the International Monetary Fund lowered its global growth outlook the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book of economic conditions said the economic outlook had “worsened considerably” in several US districts due to uncertainty about tariffs.

But markets are rallying on “any headline that’s less negative on trade,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.

“We’ve moved into a slightly more positive position but we still don’t know what the endgame will be on trade,” Hogan said.

On Wednesday, treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Washington is “not yet” speaking with Beijing on tariffs, calling today’s prohibitively high levies from both countries not “sustainable.”

Among individual companies, Boeing rose 6.0% as it reported a smaller-than-expected loss while confirming 2025 targets to raise commercial plane production.

Tesla shot up 5.4% despite reporting weaker-than-expected earnings as CEO Elon Musk announced he would shift his attention back to the electric carmaker, reducing his time spent on Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

Other large tech equities also pushed higher. Amazon rose 4.3%, Facebook parent Meta won 4.0% and Microsoft climbed 2.1%.

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