Damian J. Troise, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks shook on Wall Street, holding the majority of the profits they made at the start of the week after the US and China declared a temporary ceasefire in the trade war.
The S&P 500 had little changed on Wednesday afternoon. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 86 points, or 0.2% as of 1:04 p.m. Nasdaq rose 0.6%.
While most of the S&P 500 stocks lost ground, some large tech stocks helped counter the losses. Super Micro Computer surged 17.2% after signing a partnership agreement with Saudi data centre company Datavolt. Advanced microdevice jumped 5.5% after announcing its $6 billion stock repurchase program.
Other major winners include Etoro Group, a stock and cryptocurrency retail trading platform. It rose 30% on the first day of the transaction.
The market has been relatively stable since it surged on Monday. This comes after the US and China suspended the trade war for 90 days. The market gained further position on Tuesday after the government reported unexpected cooling across the country in April. Additional updates are scheduled for Thursday inflation and retail sales.
Since President Donald Trump escalated his world trade war in early April, the benchmark S&P 500 index on many 401(k) accounts of the Center have erased all the losses. Now it erases the losses that year and returns to within 4.2% of February’s all-time high set.
Rick Gardner, chief investment officer at RGA Investments, said:
Trump has delayed the massive strip of his most stringent tariffs on American trading partners, but some import taxes remain. The uncertainty of the road ahead depends on businesses and consumers. The nature of Trump’s trade policy being addressed has made businesses unable to plan ahead and consumers are nervous about spending.
Companies continue to cut or withdraw financial forecasts as they face unpredictable trade policies and prudent consumers.
American Eagle fell 4.6% after retailers retracted their financial outlook for the year, citing “macro uncertainty.” General Motors, UPS, Kraftheinz and JetBlue are among many companies representing a wide range of industries warning about the impact of tariffs and weakening the economy.
Over 90% of S&P 500 companies report their revenue for the most recent quarter. While the majority of companies report better revenue than expected, their forecasts for revenue growth for the quarter have been significantly reduced to half of those in the index.
The economy is already showing signs of slowing down. It shrunk by 0.3% in the first quarter amid a surge in imports as businesses and consumers tried to accumulate inventory amid uncertainty in tariffs and policy.
Inflation remains a major concern. Latest data on consumer prices, released Tuesday, showed that tariffs have not yet had much impact. However, that could change as the current tariff impacts take their path through the supply chain and delayed tariffs are potentially effective. Inflation is slightly above the Federal Reserve target of 2%, but the threat of rising prices on goods due to import taxes has heightened concerns about inflation escalating.
On Thursday, the US will release its April report on inflation at the wholesale level. This is what the company pays for the product. Economists hope to ease inflation there.
The latest update to retail sales on Thursday is expected to drop sharply from 1.4% in the previous month to 0.2% in April.
Retail giant Walmart also reported its latest financial results on Thursday, with its financial forecasts being viewed in close proximity.
In the bond market, the Treasury is making higher profits. The 2010 Treasury yield rose to 4.52% from 4.47% on Tuesday. The two-year financial yield, which moves closer to expectations for Feds’ actions, rose from 4.00% to 4.05% late Tuesday.
In overseas stock markets, the index rose in Asia and mixed in Europe.
Original issue: May 14th, 2025 9:22am EDT
