The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq nudged lower on Thursday, as investors monitored developments around U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies, while airline stocks jumped following Delta’s upbeat forecast.
At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.82 points, or 0.09%, to 44,498.12, the S&P 500 lost 9.36 points, or 0.15%, to 6,253.90 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 89.97 points, or 0.44%, to 20,523.04.
Delta Air Lines jumped 12.9% after forecasting third-quarter and full-year profits above Wall Street estimates.
Peers United Airlines rose 9.7%, while American Airlines gained 9%, boosting the Dow Jones Transport Average by 2.3%.
Markets are bracing for a flurry of second-quarter earnings, set to kick off in full force next week.
“Investors need some validation from corporate earnings to continue that justifies the valuations,” said Eric Beiley, wealth manager at Steward Partners.
“However, markets are in a wait-and-see mode with the tariff announcements .. that’s probably paused investors from this strong buying spree.”
Nine of 11 major S&P sectors were trading in green, with technology and communication services being the only drags.
Wall Street shakes off tariff concerns, Nvidia leaps to $4trn
Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, however, jumped 2.7% amid conversations around its next annual shareholder meeting in November.
Trump announced on Wednesday a new 50% tariff on copper to start on August 1 and threatened a 50% tariff on exports to the U.S. from Brazil. He also issued tariff notices to seven minor trading partners.
Yet, several countries are still waiting for official word from the White House, with investors closely monitoring the evolving trade negotiations.
Meanwhile, Nvidia leaped to a $4 trillion valuation on Wednesday, making it the first company ever to hit that mark. The chip giant’s shares slipped 0.2% in morning trade.
The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting showed most officials said they expect rate cuts will be appropriate later this year, with price shocks from Trump’s import taxes expected to be “temporary or modest.”
While a July Fed rate cut seems off the table, the odds of a September reduction stand at 67%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Last week’s robust labor market report sent Wall Street’s major indexes to fresh record highs, signaling a rebound from April’s sharp sell-off following “Liberation Day” tariff announcements.
The blue-chip Dow is just 1.1% away from reclaiming its December 4 all-time high.
Initial jobless claims for the week of July 5 came in at 227,000, below consensus of 235,000, as per a Reuters poll.
Additionally, Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly are expected to offer remarks later in the day.
Among other stocks, WK Kellogg leapt 30.5% and was on track for its biggest single-day move following reports that Italian candy maker Ferrero was nearing a deal to buy the cereal maker.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.26-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.24-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 44 new highs and 18 new lows.
American Dollar Exchange Rate