MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks ended higher in advance of President Trump's tariff announcement. Treasury yields rose as labor and activity data were stronger than expected as was February's factory orders growth. Oil prices increased as the U.S. prepared to impose sweeping new tariffs. Gold reached another all-time high, with the rally fueled by concerns that Trump's aggressive trade policies could slow global economic growth and spur inflation.
MARKET WRAPS
EQUITIES
U.S. stocks gained, with investors and traders turning to Trump's planned announcement on his latest tariff plans. He announced reciprocal tariffs on countries across the world.
"The market is craving certainty," said Mike Mullaney, director of global markets research at Boston Partners. "That's what the market needs right now, is some semblance of a plan. And we've had no semblance of a plan up until this point."
Labor and activity data were stronger than expected, indicating economic resilience.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite strengthened 0.9%.
Earlier Wednesday, Chinese shares edged higher as investors were focused on Trump's expected tariff announcement as well as the potential retaliatory steps likely to be taken by other countries.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was flat, the Shenzhen Composite Index and the ChiNext Price Index both added 0.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended flat.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.3% higher as gains in the heavy industry and video game shares offset losses in pharmaceutical and utility stocks.
Stocks in Australia gained as the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%.
New Zealand's NZX-50 rose 0.1%, the second consecutive session of increases.
COMMODITIES
Oil futures rose as the market shrugged off a 6.2 million barrel build in U.S. crude stocks while impending U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican oil -- and sanctions against Venezuela, Russia and Iran -- kept supply concerns alive.
"Every crude oil input was a bearish number in this week's report," Mizuho's Robert Yawger said, as U.S. crude imports rose, exports fell, and refineries processed less crude than the week before. "All the moving pieces rarely line up on the same side of the ledger."
West Texas Intermediate increased 0.7% to $71.71 a barrel. Brent gained 0.6% to $74.95 a barrel.
Gold futures achieved another all-time record as front-month Comex gold for April delivery gained 0.7% to $3,139.90 per ounce
Gold is up in four of the past five sessions and year-to-date it is up $510.70 or 19.4%.
The rally is fueled by strong central bank demand, exchange-traded fund inflows and an uncertain geopolitical outlook.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Trump rolls out 10% tariff on all U.S. imports with extra reciprocal levies differing by country
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his new plan for U.S. tariffs will consist of a universal tax of 10% on imported products from all other countries as well as additional "reciprocal" levies on "nations that treat us badly."
Trump said China will face a reciprocal tariff of 34%, and the European Union will be hit with a levy of 20%. He described these duties as not a full reciprocal tariff but rather about half of what other nations "have been charging us."
"Today, we're standing up for the American worker, and we are finally putting America first," Trump said in an address in the White House's Rose Garden.
U.S. Employers Boost Hiring, Bucking Trade Turmoil, ADP Report Says
Hiring in the private sector picked up pace in the U.S., driven by a rebound in manufacturing and despite uncertainty around trade tariffs, according to a monthly survey.
Some 155,000 new positions were added to the economy in March, up sharply from 84,000 in February, according to the ADP National Employment report released Wednesday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected employers to add 120,000 jobs over the month.
"Despite policy uncertainty and downbeat consumers, the bottom line is this: The March top-line number was a good one for the economy and employers of all sizes, if not necessarily all sectors," said Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist.
Risk Off Trade Is Getting Crowded. It's More Worry Than Panic.
Anxiety about President Donald Trump's tariff plans is driving a surge toward safe haven assets such as gold and Treasury bills. Just don't call it a panic yet-it's closer to a worry.
Wall Street has been prepping for the tariff rollout on Wednesday, with projections on inflation moving higher. Goldman Sachs raised 2025 core inflation estimate by 0.5 percentage points. Meanwhile, targets for the S&P 500 are headed lower. The concern is that tariffs could push up consumer prices and curb economic growth.
That has led investors to put money into the world's safest assets at a dizzying pace.
China's Tariff-Dodging Move to Mexico Looks Doomed
Su Xiuyong moved to Mexico from central China 20 months ago. He doesn't speak Spanish or English, and finds that he hates the food, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.
Su's employer, a Shenzhen-based construction company, helped set up Chinese factories south of the U.S.-Mexico border, part of a business boom triggered in 2018 by President Trump's first round of tariffs on Chinese imports. Su said his firm, Jilian Engineering, can build a small factory in as little as seven months in Mexico.
Chinese companies have kept many goods flowing to the U.S. by manufacturing in Mexico, where products ship to the U.S. tariff-free under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump negotiated in his first term. Chinese firms have invested billions of dollars in hundreds of Mexican factories that make auto parts, electronics, home appliances, furniture, medical equipment and other products for the American market.
Investors Bet Clarity on Tariffs Will Bring Stability to Markets
Stocks' calm this week shows investors continue to bet that clarity on trade will bring stability to markets.
Major indexes have retreated since President Trump began hiking duties on the country's largest trading partners, but not nearly as much as would be expected if investors thought that the economy was barreling toward a recession. As of Tuesday afternoon, the S&P 500 was down around 8% from its all-time high reached in February. But it has ticked up over the past two days, extending a rebound off its lows from a few weeks ago.
Trump is due to unveil sweeping tariffs at an event at the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, but what exactly he will announce is unclear. He said late Monday he had settled on a plan, but didn't say what it was.
Trump's Tariffs Could Blow Up Big Pharma's Tax Shelter
Pfizer in 2019 sold $20 billion of drugs in the U.S. Its federal tax bill? Zero.
That revelation was part of a Senate Finance Committee investigation done by Democratic staff, released in March, that examined how U.S. pharmaceutical giants exploit a loophole created by the 2017 Trump tax overhaul to shift profits offshore.
The strategy has been great for Big Pharma's bottom line-and for countries such as Ireland, too. But as President Trump's trade war picks up steam, that model could start to unravel.
AppLovin and Amazon Emerge as TikTok Bidders Ahead of Trump's Deadline
Mobile technology company AppLovin has made a bid for TikTok and talked to casino magnate Steve Wynn about backing it, according to people familiar with the matter, joining a flurry of suitors for the video-sharing app.
The Trump administration's April 5 deadline to sell or shut down TikTok is fast-approaching, and the president is being briefed Wednesday on a framework that would keep it operational.
The administration has talked to a coterie of U.S. investors including asset manager BlackRock and venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, the people said. The administration is working to preserve a popular app that helped Trump get elected, but has raised national security concerns.
Trump Media Shares Sink After Clearing Path for President's Trust to Sell Stake
Shares of President Trump's media company tumbled Wednesday after it filed to allow insiders to unload billions of dollars worth of stock.
Trump Media and Technology shares fell 7.4% to $18.76 Wednesday, logging their lowest close of the year. The company said that securityholders could sell up to about 134 million shares of stock "from time to time," including more than 114 million held by the president's trust, according to a securities filing.
The stock, trading under the ticker DJT, has been volatile since going public last March and has given up a surge that accompanied Trump's election victory. It is down about 45% in 2025.
Expected Major Events for Thursday
00:30/AUS: Feb Job Vacancies
00:30/JPN: Mar Japan Services PMI
00:30/SIN: Mar Singapore Whole Economy PMI
00:30/HK: Mar Hong Kong Whole Economy PMI
00:30/AUS: Feb International Trade in Goods & Services
01:00/AUS: Mar VFACTS vehicle sales
01:45/CHN: Mar China Services PMI
23:30/JPN: Feb Household Spending
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 02, 2025 17:09 ET (21:09 GMT)
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