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Live Market Update (SPX): China Pops Trump's Tariffs-Ease Bubble, Sending S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq Lower
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Key Points
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China says it is not negotiating reduction of tariffs with the Trump Administration, contradicting administration reports yesterday.
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Investors who had hoped the trade war might end as quickly as it began may be disappointed.
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As earnings season picks up steam, a lot of companies are reporting misses.
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Live Updates
Live Coverage Has Ended
S&P 500 Scores a 3-Day Winning Streak
And that’s a wrap! Thursday closed with the S&P 500 up 2%, the Nasdaq up 2.7%, and the Dow scoring a 1.2% rise, marking the third straight day of all three major stock indices rising after Monday’s rout.
After market close, Alphabet reported a strong $2.81 per share profit, 40% better than the $2.01 that Wall Street analysts were expecting. So signs are looking good for the stock market to continue its remarkable bounce back on Friday.
Tune in again tomorrow to see if it happens.
All Eyes on Alphabet
As we swing past the noonday mark on Thursday, investors are starting to look ahead to Alphabet‘s (Nasdaq: GOOG) (Nasdaq: GOOGL) earnings report, which is due out after close of trading today. Wall Street will be looking for at least $2.01 per share in earnings (up 6% year over year) and $89.2 billion in sales (up 11%).
Anything less than that and… look out below!
The Rollercoaster is Rising Again
Happy day! Despite misgivings over the prospect for tariffs relief, investors seem intent on keeping this week’s post-Monday stock market rally going. In late-morning trading, the S&P 500 is now up 1.2% and the Nasdaq 1.7%. The Dow’s in the green as well, albeit less so with a 0.5% gain.
Despite the optimism, though, JPMorgan just hiked its estimate of the odds the economy will fall into recession this year, from 40% to 60%. For investors buying back into the rally, this could end badly…
Freeport Got the Memo on Tariffs
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) beat on sales and beat on earnings this morning. Now the world’s biggest copper miner is telling investors it expects mining costs to decline somewhat in 2025, potentially boosting profits. Freeport adds that it will expand mining within the United States, which seems like a sound strategy given the Trump Administration’s continuing commitment to raising tariff barriers against imports.
What goes up must come back down, with a little help from China. The South China Morning Post reports this morning that, Mr. Trump’s comments yesterday notwithstanding, there are no negotiations going on with the Trump Administration regarding lowering tariffs between the two countries. Investors are displeased with this revelation, and markets opened lower pretty much across the board.
Here’s how major market indices are looking so far:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -.22%
Nasdaq Composite:
S&P 500 (Index: SPX): 0.05%
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: VOO) is 0.05%
Earnings
Earnings season is starting to look a bit frantic. Earnings reports that numbered in the dozens yesterday are now coming in by the score, and the news is far from universally great, with pockets of weakness forming in pretty much any sector you could name. PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), Dow (NYSE: DOW) Chemical, all of them are reporting small, but measurable earnings misses.
On the plus side, Textron (NYSE: TXT) and L3Harris (NYSE: LHX) continuing the trend of broadly better earnings in the defense sector, reporting $1.28 per share in profit and $3.3 billion in revenue, both numbers better than Wall Street had forecast. L3’s results were more mixed, with $2.41 per share in profit exceeding expectations, but $5.1 billion in revenue falling short of analysts’ expected $5.2 billion.
Analyst Calls
In upgrades news, Deutsche Bank is making a curious bet on regional banks, upgrading both M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) and Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq: HBAN), primarily because both stocks look significantly cheaper now than they did in February. On the plus side, downgrades are even fewer than upgrades today as analysts turn cautious. DA Davidson did cut its rating on Mondelez International (Nasdaq: MDLZ), though, warning of “soft snacking demand in the U.S.”
And if Americans are giving up snacking, you know things can’t be good.
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