US open: Stocks mixed as Trump's tariffs remain in focus
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 05 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Wednesday after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the US might meet Canada and Mexico "in the middle" to "work something out" on tariffs.
As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.18% at 42,596.87, while the S&P 500 lost 018% to 5,767.69 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.16% firmer at 18,255.75.
The Dow opened 75.88 points higher on Wednesday, reclaiming a fraction of the losses recorded in the previous session amid worries about Donald Trump's trade war.
In addition to tariff headlines, extremely strained relations between Ukraine and the US were also in focus, with tensions appearing to be easing after Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to sign a deal on the country's minerals with Washington, prompting an aide to Donald Trump to suggest that aid could be restored to the war-torn country.
After an extraordinary fracas in the White House last Friday, which saw Donald Trump and his deputy JD Vance shout at the Ukrainian leader, a letter from Kyiv stated that Zelenskyy was "ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer"
"My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts," Trump quoted Zelenskyy during a rambling address to Congress, also claiming he had "serious discussions with Russia" and "strong signals that they are ready for peace".
On the macro front, private businesses added 77,000 workers to their payrolls in February, according to Automatic Data Processing, down from 186,000 in January and short of expectations for a reading of 140,000 for the smallest increase in seven months.
Elsewhere, factory orders increased by 1.7% month-on-month in January, according to the Census Bureau, slightly surpassing market expectations of a 1.6% increase with the first improvement in three months.
On another note, the Institute for Supply Management's services PMI unexpectedly rose to 53.5 in February, up from 52.8 in January and beating forecasts for a modest decline to 52.6, pointing to faster growth in the sector.
Finally, S&P Global's services PMI fell to 51 in February, down from 52.9 January, revised sharply higher from the flash estimate of 49.7, but still firmly below the initial market expectations of 53. S&P's composite PMI fell from 52.7 in January to 51.6 in February, higher than preliminary estimates of 50.4 but still the slowest pace of expansion since April 2024.
In the corporate space, cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike tumbled as the company's first-quarter guidance missed estimates, while Abercrombie & Fitch shares tumbled as the clothing retailer's guidance disappointed, and Campbell's lowered its FY sales and profit guidance on the back of weak demand.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $37.04 3.99%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $392.01 2.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $334.60 2.40%
Boeing Co. (BA) $161.72 1.77%
3M Co. (MMM) $148.29 1.66%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $10.94 1.06%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $175.01 1.06%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $257.80 0.82%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $95.68 0.75%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $109.79 0.72%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.93 -5.49%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $232.22 -2.62%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $150.18 -1.20%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $250.20 -1.19%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $165.01 -0.25%
Visa Inc. (V) $351.44 -0.22%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $63.25 -0.02%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
American Express Co. (AXP) $283.52 0.02%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $92.63 0.08%
S&P 500 - Risers
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $19.16 10.31%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.88 9.84%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $35.74 9.35%
Celanese Corp. (CE) $52.00 7.86%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $37.33 6.96%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $86.06 6.76%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $38.50 5.19%
Teleflex Inc. (TFX) $136.76 4.57%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $59.99 4.53%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $5.03 4.47%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $91.45 -7.84%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.93 -5.49%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $136.32 -4.42%
Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) $69.42 -4.16%
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) $40.79 -3.55%
Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) $78.93 -3.50%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $123.18 -3.47%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $33.21 -3.05%
Alliant Energy Corp. (LNT) $64.32 -3.04%
ConocoPhillips (COP) $88.02 -2.89%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $62.02 7.30%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $86.06 6.76%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $42.81 5.40%
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.28 5.23%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $90.17 4.51%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $116.54 4.29%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $728.01 4.04%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $192.79 3.56%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $92.42 3.50%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $205.83 3.29%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $91.45 -7.84%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.93 -5.49%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $261.77 -4.26%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $232.22 -2.62%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $312.74 -2.49%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $44.21 -2.34%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $101.83 -2.17%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $111.56 -1.93%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $298.44 -1.92%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $265.74 -1.70%
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