A choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended with a mixed finish for stock indexes Wednesday, as gains by several big technology stocks helped temper losses.
The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% after wavering between small gains and losses much of the day. Most of the stocks in the index lost ground, but solid gains for several heavyweight technology companies like Nvidia helped counter a decline in health care and other sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%.
Super Micro Computer surged 15.7% after signing a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabian data center company DataVolt. Advanced Micro Devices gained 4.7% after announcing a $6 billion stock buyback program.
Nvidia rose 4.2% and Google parent Alphabet added 3.7%.
Other big gainers included eToro Group, a retail trading platform for stocks and cryptocurrency. It rose 28.8% in its first day of trading.
The market has been relatively steady since its surge on Monday, which came after the U.S. and China entered a 90-day pause in their trade war. The market gained some more ground on Tuesday after the government reported that inflation unexpectedly cooled across the country in April. Additional updates on inflation and retail sales are expected on Thursday.
The benchmark S&P 500 index, which sits at the center many 401(k) accounts, has erased all its losses since President Donald Trump escalated his global trade war in early April. It has now also erased its losses for the year and is back to within 4.1% of its all-time high set in February.
“The stock market’s rally has legs, as the trade negotiation with China was seemingly the toughest one on the docket," said Rick Gardner, chief investment officer at RGA Investments.
Trump has delayed a large swath of his most severe tariffs against America's trading partners, but some import taxes remain in place. Uncertainty over the path ahead continues to hang over businesses and consumers. The on-again-off-again nature of Trump’s trade policy has left companies reluctant to make plans about investment and hiring and consumers nervous about spending.
Businesses continue to trim or withdraw their financial forecasts as they face unpredictable trade policy and cautious consumers.
American Eagle fell 6.4% after the retailer withdrew its financial outlook for the year citing “macro uncertainty.” General Motors, UPS, Kraft Heinz and JetBlue are among the many companies representing a wide range of industries that have warned about the impact of tariffs and a weakening economy.
More than 90% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for their latest quarter. The majority of companies have reported better-than-expected earnings, but forecasts for earnings growth during the current quarter have been broadly cut in half for companies in the index.
The economy has already showed signs of slowing. It shrank 0.3% during the first quarter amid a surge of imports as businesses and consumers tried to stock up amid tariffs and policy uncertainty.
Inflation remains a big concern. The latest data on consumer prices released Tuesday showed that tariffs haven’t had much impact yet. But that could change as the impact of current tariffs make their way through supply chains and delayed tariffs potentially go into effect. Inflation has cooled to just above the Federal Reserve's target of 2%, but the threat of higher prices on goods because of import taxes has heightened worries about inflation heating up.
The U.S. on Thursday will release its April report for inflation at the wholesale level, which is what companies are paying for goods. Economists expect an easing of inflation there.
The latest update Thursday for retail sales is expected to reflect a sharp drop to 0.2% in April from 1.4% the previous month.
Retail giant Walmart will also report its latest financial results on Thursday and its financial forecasts will be closely watched.
In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.54% from 4.47% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for Fed action, rose to 4.06% from 4.00% late Tuesday.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 6.03 points to 5,892.58. The Dow fell 89.37 points to 42,051.06, and the Nasdaq gained 136.72 points to 19,146.81.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Asia and were mixed in Europe.
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