Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Rise as Trump Announces Trade Deal With UK; Bitcoin Nears $100,000
Stocks moved higher in early trading Thursday following news that the U.S. has reached a trade agreement with the United Kingdom.
The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were up 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively, about 15 minutes after the opening bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%. Stocks are coming off a winning session on Wednesday after two consecutive days of declines as investors looked for signs of progress on trade deals amid hopes that President Trump will soften his stance on tariffs.
Trump said in a social post this morning that the agreement with the U.K. is “full and comprehensive.” The president, who is set to reveal the details of the deal at a 10:00 am E.T press conference, also said that “many other deals” are in “serious stages of negotiation.” Investors will be eager to hear more from Trump on the status of those other deals.
The trade deal with the U.K. comes ahead of highly anticipated talks, scheduled for Saturday in Switzerland, between U.S. and Chinese officials. The two countries have imposed tariffs of more than 100% on one another, effectively halting trade and sparking concerns about the likelihood of product shortages and rising inflation. Trump said yesterday that he would not lower tariffs to get China to the bargaining table.
Shares of the world’s largest technology companies were up across the board in early trading. Alphabet (GOOG) was up nearly 2% after plunging more than 7% yesterday following reports that Apple is looking to add AI-powered search options to its Safari browser, a move that could erode Google’s share of the online search market. Apple (AAPL) shares inched higher this morning.
Chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO), which surged late yesterday on news that the Trump administration plans to ease trade restrictions on semiconductors, each rose about 1% shortly after the open. EV maker Tesla (TSLA) was up more than 3%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) also gained ground.
Among other noteworthy tech sector movers, shares of AppLovin (APP) jumped 15% after the adtech company late Wednesday announced the sale of its mobile game business alongside first quarter earnings that topped analysts’ expectations. Arm Holdings (ARM) were down 6% after the chip designer issued an outlook that missed expectations on the top and bottom lines.
Crypto-related stocks were moving higher this morning as the price of bitcoin surged to near $100,000, a level it hasn’t been at since February. Strategy (MSTR), the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, was up about 4%, as were crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) and bitcoin miner MARA Holdings (MARA). Bitcoin was at $99,400 recently, up from an overnight low of $96,100.
Gold futures were down 0.7% at $3,370 an ounce, losing ground for the second straight day, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 1.7% to $59.05 per barrel.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, rose slightly to 4.29%. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was up 0.3% at 99.93.