Stocks moved higher Wednesday morning as investors digested quarterly results from several major companies and monitored developments on the global trade front.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up 0.3% recently, while the S&P 500 (SPX) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) added 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. Stocks are looking to bounce back from a down day on Tuesday, when major indexes gave back much of the big gains posted the previous day, when the S&P 500 broke a four-day losing streak.
After hitting a series of record highs in July, stocks have come under pressure over the past week amid lingering concerns about the potential impact of tariffs and the health of the U.S. economy. This morning, the White House announced that the U.S. will impose an additional 25% tax on imports from India, raising the overall rate to 50%. Higher tariffs on dozens of U.S. trade partners are due to go into effect this week, and President Donald Trump has also threatened to impose sector-specific tariffs.
While investors await further news on trade, the economic data calendar is light today, but corporate results continue to roll in.
Among the noteworthy post-earnings movers this morning, shares of McDonald’s (MCD), a Dow component, climbed 3%, while fellow Dow member Disney (DIS) slipped about 3%. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) dropped 8% after releasing its quarterly numbers last night, while server maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI) and Snapchat parent Snap (SNAP) tumbled 21% and 19%, respectively. E-commerce platform Shopify (SHOP) soared 19% after releasing its results.
Shares of the world’s largest technology companies were mostly higher on Wednesday, led by gain of more than 5% for Apple (AAPL) amid reports the company is set to announce $100 billion in additional investments in U.S. manufacturing. Tesla (TSLA) was up about 3%, while Amazon (AMZN) and Broadcom (AVGO) each advanced nearly 2%, and Alphabet (GOOG) and Meta Platforms (META) rose slightly. Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) ticked lower.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.22% this morning, up from 4.20% at yesterday’s close. The yield hit its lowest level in three months this week as market expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have increased following last Friday’s weak jobs report.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.5% this morning at 98.35, its lowest level in a week.
Bitcoin was at $115,000 recently, up from an overnight low of $113,300. The digital currency hit its lowest level in three weeks on Friday, moving as low as $112,000.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up 1.2% at $65.95 per barrel, rebounding after four straight days of declines. Gold futures, which were trading near a two-month high on Tuesday, were holding steady at around $3,435 an ounce this morning.
