Dow Opens Higher as Market Focuses on Fed Rate Cuts
Stocks opened higher on Wednesday after another round of upbeat earnings reports overshadowed jitters about U.S.-China trade tensions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 406 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 was up 1.2%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.4%.
“While there’s little economic data on the calendar again today, it’s been another strong showing for earnings this morning as eight of the ten companies reporting exceeded bottom-line results,” writes Bespoke Investment Group.
The S&P 500 nearly closed higher on Tuesday, but the market benchmark fell suddenly late in the session after President Donald Trump threatened restrictions on Chinese exports of cooking oil.
“Other than the official 16-basis-point decline on Tuesday, the SPX had a constructive session — it reversed near support, formed a higher low, closed above its midpoint, and had supportive breadth,” writes Frank Cappelleri, founder of technical analysis firm CappThesis. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but the longer the S&P can maintain its buoyancy and consolidate through time, the greater the likelihood that this digestive phase also resolves to the upside.”
Though earnings were driving the market higher on Wednesday, traders will pay close attention to comments from the Trump administration on trade.
Earlier in the morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that although President Trump “likes a high stock market,” he thinks “the high stock market is a result of good policies.”
“We won’t negotiate because the stock market is going down,” Bessent said.