Stocks close mostly higher, with tech in command amid Trump's Mideast dealmaking
U.S. stocks closed mostly higher one day after the broad S&P 500 index turned positive for the year after tumbling in the aftermath of the April tariff roll-out.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% or 89.37 points to close at 42,051.06, despite big gains for NVIDIA Corp. The S&P 500 added 6.03 points, about 0.1%, to close at 5,891.58. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.7%, up 136.72 points, to 19,146.81, putting it less than 1% lower for the year to date.
Stocks got a boost earlier in the week after the U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause on some tariffs. Effective Wednesday, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods drop to 30% from 145% and Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods fall to 10% from 125%. Lower tariffs reduce the chance the U.S. economy will fall into a recession, economists said.
The benchmark U.S. 10-year note rose 3 basis points to 4.528%.
Business news
- Tech stocks continued to rally after the Trump administration rolled back regulations on chip exports. The Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF closed nearly 1% higher, while heavyweight NVIDIA gained more than 4%.
- Shares of crypto exchange Coinbase rose for a second day after it was announced that the stock would be included in the S&P 500.
- Super Micro Computer shares surged, ending the day nearly 16% higher after announcing a deal with DataVolt, a Saudi Arabian data center company.
- Boeing shares gained after Qatar announced plans to buy 160 planes, a record order, amid a visit from President Donald Trump.
- Saudi Aramco announced it was inking deals with U.S. companies including Amazon and NVIDIA.
Economic news
- Oil prices declined after OPEC said it expected less demand for oil from the United States. Brent crude futures and those tied to West Texas Intermediate were both about 0.8% lower.
- Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson on Wednesday noted continued progress toward taming inflation, but reiterated that "there is much uncertainty" about the future path of price gains. Jefferson spoke at an event hosted by the New York Fed.