US open: Stocks higher as Trump softens stance on China
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 23 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Major indices were all in the green early on Wednesday after Donald Trump revealed he did not intend to try to oust "major loser" Jerome Powell from his role as Federal Reserve chairman and that he would play "very nice" with China.
As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.19% at 40,044.36, while the S&P 500 advanced 3.20% to 5,456.91 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 3.51% firmer at 16,872.98.
The Dow opened 857.38 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as news broke that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said there "will be a de-escalation" in the White House's trade war with China.
"No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable," he said. However, Bessent also stated that if America was to walk out the door of negotiations and sign "something in two or three years that looked like that", he reckons that could be considered "a huge win".
Trump also softened his stance on Beijing, admitting that the current 145% tariff on Chinese imports was "very high" and that while it "won't be that high" and that "it'll come down substantially", he also said "it won't be zero". He also indicated that he did not see a need to "play hardball".
Major indices also got a boost after Trump said late on Tuesday that he has "no intention" of firing Powell, whose term will end in May 2026, despite stating the chairman's "termination cannot come fast enough" just a day earlier.
On Wednesday's macro slate, mortgage applications slumped 12.7% in the week ended 18 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the sharpest decline since October 2024. Applications to purchase a home were down 7%, while applications to refinance a mortgage fell 20% week-on-week.
Elsewhere, a preliminary reading of S&P Global's composite purchasing managers index fell to 51.2 in April, down from 53.5 in March to mark the slowest private sector activity growth in 16 months, while its manufacturing PMI rose to 50.7 in April from 50.2 in March and the services PMI fell to 51.4 from 54.4 in the month prior.
On another note, new home sales surged by 7.4% in March to a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 724,000, according to the Census Bureau.
In the corporate space, Tesla reported quarterly earnings that missed expectations on both the top and the bottom line after the close of trading, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.27 on revenues of $19.34bn, short of analyst estimates of $0.34 per share and $21.11bn.
Philip Morris hiked its FY earnings forecasts on the back of solid sales of smoke-free products, while AT&T said Q1 revenues had grown 2% on the back of strong postpaid phone and fibre subscriber growth, and Boeing also reported better-than-expected Q1 figures but noted that China has stopped taking delivery of aircraft due to the current tariff environment.
Chipotle and IBM were also slated to report their latest quarterly figures on Wednesday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.82 8.63%
American Express Co. (AXP) $267.47 5.96%
Boeing Co. (BA) $171.34 5.43%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $378.81 4.99%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $206.34 4.79%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $544.44 4.70%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $30.32 4.55%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $254.18 4.43%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $303.25 4.15%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $245.20 4.08%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $165.67 -1.32%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $42.67 -1.22%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $156.07 -1.07%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $73.45 -0.61%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $136.78 -0.38%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $319.27 0.06%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $262.22 0.35%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.02 0.73%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $79.72 0.96%
S&P 500 - Risers
Amphenol Corp. (APH) $73.47 11.75%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $74.44 9.63%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $185.74 9.32%
Wabtec Corp. (WAB) $187.72 9.29%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $12.74 9.26%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.82 8.63%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $57.97 8.52%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $71.76 8.48%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $93.10 8.48%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $530.56 8.44%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Newmont Corporation (NEM) $52.43 -3.87%
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $134.18 -2.71%
Chubb Corp. (CB) $282.99 -2.56%
American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $215.93 -2.28%
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $48.76 -2.13%
Crown Castle International (CCI) $102.39 -1.89%
Gen Dynamics Corp. (GD) $269.86 -1.80%
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $129.63 -1.59%
CME Group Inc. (CME) $258.51 -1.54%
Amer Water Works (AWK) $147.10 -1.45%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $74.44 9.63%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $185.74 9.32%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.82 8.63%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $530.56 8.44%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $505.81 8.01%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $435.70 7.84%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $161.40 7.58%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $178.70 7.48%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $271.80 7.44%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $43.25 7.29%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $198.31 -5.06%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $9.35 -1.99%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $144.11 -0.16%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $0.00 0.00%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $0.00 0.00%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $103.90 0.00%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $94.42 0.00%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $5.77 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $0.00 0.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $0.00 0.00%
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