Wednesday’s Top Reads
Here are the top stories to read during Wednesday trading:
Latest Updates
U.S. government debt was broadly selling off on Wednesday, pushing yields on everything from the 1-year Treasury bill through the 30-year bond higher, as traders readjusted their expectations on the possibility of tariffs.
The view that President Donald Trump’s tough tariff talk is nothing more than a negotiating tactic appeared to be starting to fade, considering his willingness to now include the European Union as one of his targets. Wednesday’s rise in yields was being led by 5- through 10-year rates, according to FactSet data.
17 min ago
U.S. stocks were rising across the board on Wednesday morning, buoyed by the advance in megacap technology names.
Under the surface, however, there is furious paddling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was struggling to hold on to its slight gains, up 0.2% to trade at around 44,138, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up 0.8% and 1.4%, respectively, according to FactSet data.
Johnson & Johnson’s stock was the worst performer on the blue-chip index on Wednesday morning, off 2.8% after the company beat estimates for the fourth quarter but offered some mixed guidance. Shares of Home Depot Inc. were falling 1.5%, while Sherwin-Williams Co.’s stock was down 1%, according to FactSet data.
At the other end of the spectrum, shares of Nvidia Corp. were surging 3.6%, helping the Dow to stay afloat. But the 30-stock index doesn’t include Netflix Inc., which was popping over 11% as the best performer on the large-cap S&P 500 index.
26 min ago
Given President Donald Trump’s widening tariff talk, “there is no question that tariffs are going to increase” even if the timing and magnitude of any changes remain uncertain, according to BMO Capital Markets strategists.
The comments by Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman came after Trump mentioned the European Union as a possible target for tariffs — broadening his desire for duties beyond just Mexico, Canada and China.
One of the biggest looming questions is whether Trump will be ready implement tariffs by Feb. 1 or April 1, the latter of which is expected to include a review of current trade practices.
“The latter would be interpreted as a more measured and deliberate approach to tariffs and, as a result, we’d expect the price action to be subdued and, if anything, net bond bullish for Treasuries,” the BMO strategists said. “In the event of an earlier (i.e. February 1st) official rollout of higher import taxes, we’d be more apprehensive on the direction of US yields and assume that any push toward lower rates would be limited – or at least delayed until the full extent of Trump’s trade policy reform was revealed.”
54 min ago
So-called Big Tech stocks with outsized weightings in the S&P 500 were rising sharply Wednesday, with gains led by Nvidia Corp.
The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF, whose portfolio equally weights seven Big Tech stocks — Nvidia, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Tesla Inc. and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. — was up a sharp 1.7% on Wednesday morning, according to FactSet data, at last check.
Nvidia had the biggest gain in the group, up 4.4%, followed by Microsoft’s 3.4% gain, FactSet data show, at last check. Both companies have market values exceeding $3 trillion.
Meta and Amazon shares were also up sharply, each gaining 1.9% on Wednesday morning. The S&P 500 was climbing 0.7% in morning trade, getting a boost from its tech sector’s sharp rally.
1 hour ago
U.S. stocks on Wednesday were extending their post-inauguration rally to a second day as Wall Street welcomed President Donald Trump’s calmer-than-expected tone on tariffs and his artificial-intelligence initiative to expand tech infrastructure in the U.S.
The S&P 500 was trading at around 6,091 as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time. If sustained, it would be the first record close for the large-cap benchmark index in 2025, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Wall Street was under pressure in early January as surging Treasury yields and the absence of a “Santa Claus rally” doomed market sentiment, but now investors seem to “have warmed back up” to some of Trump’s policy changes on taxes, regulation and tariffs, said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
“If nothing else, [what we are having is more of] a relief rally than necessarily something more sustainable, which is going to ultimately have to be supported by the realization [of Trump’s policies] as to going from what’s expected to what ultimately translates to reality, which we just don’t know at this point,” he told MarketWatch via phone on Wednesday.
2 hours ago
Policies from the second Trump administration are the main focus for the U.S. Treasury market, not the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting (BofA Global, Bloomberg)
The U.S. bond market since December has been dialing back expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, as the above chart shows.
Similarly, rates investors “do not expect a large shift in policy guidance” at next week’s Fed policy meeting, BofA Global rates strategists wrote, in a Wednesday client note.
They instead have been focused on “Trump policy changes & the economic impact vs the Fed right now.”
The 10-year Treasury yield was 2 basis points higher in early action Wednesday, near 4.58%, well below a recent 4.8% high.
2 hours ago
U.S. stocks were rising on Wednesday morning with the major stock averages seeing their third day of gains as investors digested a slew of robust corporate earnings and President Donald Trump’s new initiative on artificial intelligence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was rising over 100 points, or 0.3%, to around 44,132, according to FactSet data.
The S&P 500 was up 0.5%, at around 6,078.
The Nasdaq Composite was surging 0.8%, to around 19,910.
Technology stocks were also getting a lift on Wednesday morning after Trump announced a major investment in artificial-intelligence infrastructure that calls for OpenAI, SoftBank Group Corp. and Oracle Corp. to create a joint venture named Stargate that will focus on data centers and other infrastructure projects.
2 hours ago
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 4.57% in Wednesday morning trading and still near its lowest level of the new year, as traders continued to await possible trade policies from President Donald Trump.
“A quiet open in rate markets” and “all eyes remain on Washington,” said Gregory Faranello, head of U.S. rates trading and strategy at veteran-owned broker-dealer AmeriVet Securities in New York. “Things are moving fast… U.S. rate markets remain focused on potential tariff policy, the latest of which focuses on a 10% increase for China” — and Europe in the crosshair too.
3 hours ago
The S&P 500 appeared set to push for a three-day winning streak Wednesday as the large-cap benchmark closed in on record territory.
The S&P 500 ended Tuesday at 6049.24, just 0.67% below its record finish of 6090.27 set on Dec. 6.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Tuesday 2.2% below its record close of 45,014.04 hit on Dec. 4, while the Nasdaq Composite is 2.07% from its record close of 20,173.89,
4 hours ago
Quantitative strategists at BNP Paribas say they’re shorting oil, targeting $71.59 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate.
They note that positioning by trend funds is “extremely bullish” at the moment, meaning that if prices fall, there could be a big unwind by what are called CTAs. On their model, a decline of 5% to 6% would get the CTAs to sell as well.
Any additional tariffs on China — President Donald Trump late on Tuesday threatened a possible move by Feb. 1. — could inject caution into oil markets already wary of China’s sluggish growth, the BNP team said.