Elaine Kaltenbach and Matt Ott, business writer for the Associated Press
Wall Street is poised to make a profitable and open up without changing interest rates, when the Federal Reserve put together a two-day policy meeting and President Donald Trump pleads for interest rate cuts to pursue a global trade war.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% before the bell on Wednesday. Dow Jones’ industrial average futures rose 0.7%.
Walt Disney Co. rushed over 6% at Prema Market after the entertainment giant easily beat Wall Street’s profit target in the second quarter. Disney revenues rose 7% from the same quarter a year ago.
Disney’s results came just days after Trump accused other countries of “stolen the US’s ability to make films,” and said he allowed government agencies to immediately begin the process of implementing this new import tax on all foreign-made films.
Video game company Electronic Arts has climbed over 5% after releasing preliminary results for the most recent quarter.
Some companies say they have already affected their businesses from the uncertainty created by tariffs, and are now revising or pulling guidance. Some offer two sets of predictions. One is subject to customs duties and one is subject to no additional charges.
Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have shown they want to see how their duties, including 145% of all imports from China, affect consumer prices and the economy.
Uncertainty about tariffs can make U.S. households more pessimistic about the economy and affect long-term purchase plans. That anxiety helped to drive a surge in imports ahead of potentially more severe tariffs.
The US trade deficit surged to a record $140.5 billion in March ahead of tariffs that came into effect in April and other tariffs that were postponed until July. Last week, the government reported that the US economy had contracted at a rate of 0.3% per year in the first quarter of the year due to a surge in imports.
At midday in Europe, Germany’s DAX had virtually no change, but Paris’ CAC 40 dropped by 0.6% and UK’s FTSE 100 dropped by 0.4%.
In Asia, stocks have moved forward after the US and China said they plan to hold trade talks in Switzerland later this week.
Hong Kong’s benchmark temporarily jumped over 2% after Beijing officials unleashed interest rate cuts and other moves, with higher tariffs ordered by Trump rolling out interest rate cuts and other moves to help the country’s exports.
However, market responses to both developments were relatively restricted.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% to 36,779.66.
Hong Kong’s Hangsen had just 0.1% before the end of the transaction and closed at 22,691.88. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8% to 3,342.67.
Trade talks may explain the decision to announce the economic rescue package, the Linn in Economics song said in the report.
“As such, easing is not considered a knee response to tariffs. Policymakers may now know some of the early data on how the economy is being affected by the tariff shock,” Song said.
However, analysts said the calm response to the policy announced Wednesday may reflect a disappointment at the lack of major government spending that many economists say is necessary to take China’s economy away from the downturn.
“These will help to strengthen growth in margins. However, the increase in credit demand is modest and today’s movement is not a substitute for expanding financial support,” said Julian Evans Puicherd of Capital Economics in a report.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8,178.30, while South Korea’s Kospi scored 2,573,80 from 0.6%.
US benchmark crude earned between 48 cents and $59.57 per barrel. International standard, Brent crude, won between 40 cents and $62.55 per barrel.
The dollar rose from 142.41 yen to 143.34 days. The euro was chopped from $1.1369 to $1.1365.
Original issue: May 7, 2025 9:06am EDT
