Stocks are drifting in mixed trading on Wall Street Thursday after President Donald Trump's latest tariffs took effect on dozens of countries.
The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1 per cent after climbing earlier in the day to the edge of its record, which was set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 330 points, or 0.7 per cent, as of 11:45 am Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4 per cent higher.
Worries are still high that Trump's tariffs are damaging the economy, particularly after last week's worse-than-expected report on the job market.
But hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a torrent of stronger-than-expected profit reports from big US companies are helping to offset the concerns, at least for now.
Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher.
The Bank of England cut its main interest rate on Thursday in hopes of bolstering the sluggish UK economy.
The US tariffs that took effect Thursday morning were also already well known, as well as lower than what Trump had initially threatened. Some countries are still trying to negotiate down the tax rates on their exports, and continued uncertainty seems to be the only certainty on Wall Street.
All the while, the US stock market faces criticism that it's climbed too far, too fast since hitting a bottom in April and left prices looking too expensive.
The latest reports on the US economy came in mixed, meanwhile, which left Treasury yields relatively stable in the bond market.
One said that slightly more US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. That could be an indication of rising layoffs, but the number remains within its recent range.
“There is nothing to see here!” according to Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “These are not nearly recession readings.” A separate report said that productivity for US workers improved by more during the spring than economists expected. That could help the US economy grow without adding more pressure on inflation. And that's particularly important when Trump's tariffs look set to increase prices for all kinds of things that US households and businesses buy.
On Wall Street, Apple helped lead the market amid hopes that its massive size can help it navigate Trump's economy. Its stock rose 3 per cent after its CEO, Tim Cook, joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday to say it's increasing its investment in US manufacturing by an additional USD 100 billion over the next four years.
Trump also announced a 100 per cent tariff on imported computer chips, but he added “if you're building in the United States of America, there's no charge.” “Large, cash-rich companies that can afford to build in America will be the ones to benefit the most,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “It's survival of the biggest.” DoorDash climbed 4.8 per cent after the delivery app topped Wall Street's profit expectations for the latest quarter. It attracted new customers and saw the total number of orders increase.
Duolingo, the language-learning app, soared 28.9 per cent after it crushed Wall Street's expectations. The company said its subscription revenue grew 46 per cent over the same period last year.
They helped offset a drop for Eli Lilly, which fell 14.7 per cent even though the drugmaker reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Analysts said some investors were disappointed with results that Lilly provided for a late-stage study of its potential pill version of the popular weight-loss drug Zepbound.
Intel sank 3 per cent after Trump called for its CEO to resign, while accusing him of being “highly CONFLICTED,” though he gave no evidence.
Crocs tumbled 25.2 per cent even though the footwear company reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said it expects revenue to fall between 9 per cent and 11 per cent in the current quarter from a year earlier, while tariffs are dragging on its profitability.
The company cited “continued uncertainty from evolving global trade policy and related pressures around the consumer.” In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
Stocks climbed 0.2 per cent in Shanghai and 0.7 per cent in Hong Kong after China reported that its exports picked up in July, helped by a flurry of shipments as businesses took advantage of a pause in Trump's tariff war with Beijing.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.6 per cent. Toyota Motor's stock fell after it cut its full-year earnings forecasts largely because of President Donald Trump's tariffs, but Sony rose after the entertainment and electronics company indicated it's taking less damage from the tariffs than it had expected.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.22 per cent, where it was late Wednesday.
This report includes content sourced from Press Trust of India (PTI), edited for clarity and context.
