US close: Stocks higher as tariffs, Ukraine tensions remain in focus
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 05 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed higher 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.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.14% at 43,006.59, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.12% to 5,842.63 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.46% firmer at 18,552.73.
The Dow closed 485.860 points higher on Wednesday, reclaiming much of the previous session's losses.
In addition to ongoing worries about Donald Trump's trade war, extremely strained relations between Ukraine and the US were also in focus on Wednesday, 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".
However, the US later said it had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine in a follow-up to the suspension of military aid to the war-torn country, hampering its ability to carry out long-range drone strikes on Russian targets.
American officials hinted that both suspensions could be lifted if there was progress on peace talks. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was prepared to sign a minerals deal with the US, although Washington seemed determined to strong-arm him into a negotiating position on White House and Kremlin terms.
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 traded lower 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) $37.78 6.06%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $401.02 5.24%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $338.49 3.59%
Boeing Co. (BA) $163.16 2.68%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $593.07 2.05%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $291.97 1.61%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $386.35 1.22%
3M Co. (MMM) $147.61 1.20%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $63.96 1.11%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $95.98 1.06%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.81 -6.05%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $235.74 -1.15%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $150.81 -0.78%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $251.35 -0.73%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $10.75 -0.65%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $165.12 -0.18%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $70.08 -0.16%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $42.84 -0.07%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Visa Inc. (V) $352.68 0.13%
S&P 500 - Risers
Celanese Corp. (CE) $54.33 12.69%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $63.42 10.50%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $35.99 10.09%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $38.16 9.34%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $39.45 7.79%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $5.16 7.28%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.86 7.24%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $70.15 6.54%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $85.69 6.30%
United Rentals Inc. (URI) $633.89 6.02%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $92.43 -6.85%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.81 -6.05%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $135.12 -5.26%
Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) $68.73 -5.11%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $121.76 -4.58%
Alliant Energy Corp. (LNT) $63.44 -4.37%
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) $40.45 -4.35%
Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) $78.80 -3.65%
Resmed Inc. (RMD) $223.83 -3.30%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $310.43 -3.21%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $64.01 10.74%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $43.76 7.74%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $70.15 6.54%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $91.88 6.49%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $85.69 6.30%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $739.75 5.71%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $94.34 5.66%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $401.02 5.24%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $79.05 5.20%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $117.30 4.98%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $92.43 -6.85%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.81 -6.05%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $262.74 -3.90%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $310.43 -3.21%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $1,339.67 -2.78%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $296.89 -2.43%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $44.20 -2.36%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $30.92 -2.31%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $62.08 -1.88%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $111.69 -1.82%
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