Wall Street Awaits Trump's Tariff Decision, Digests Mixed Economic Data: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

The three major indices were mostly flat in midday trading Wednesday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slightly under the flatline and the Dow Jones up 39 points. 

Wall Street digested mixed economic data after the ISM Services PMI price index indicated strong growth in the services sector, but the ADP employment report came in well below forecasts and added the fewest jobs in seven months. 

Traders awaited further developments on trade policy after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared on Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. Lutnick said President Donald Trump would likely make a decision on possible tariff relief for Mexico and Canada Wednesday afternoon.

Read Next: Trump Tariffs Will Raise Prices ‘Within Days,’ Target CEO Says

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note was at 4.23% on Wednesday, trimming declines from the morning after expansion in the services sector, reflected by the ISM PMI easing concerns on lower growth. However, yields remained near four-month lows touched earlier in the week.  The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT fell 0.24%.  

Bitcoin BTC/USD was up 1% on Wednesday, and up nearly 5% on the week, as investors look forward to President Trump's White House crypto summit on Friday. 

Wednesday's Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1 day % chg.
Nasdaq 100	18,207.74	-0.43%
S&P 500	5,756.29	-0.38%
Dow Jones	42,470.06	-0.12%
Russell 2000	2,075.09	-0.21%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was down 0.43% at $574.36.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA was down 0.14% at $424.98.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ fell 0.58% to $492.67.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM slid 0.59% to $205.22.
• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY was down 0.19% to $207.85.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE was down 3.31% to $84.09.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers: 

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF shares plunged Wednesday after the company’s weak outlook overshadowed its better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The company said it expects first-quarter EPS in the range of $1.25 to $1.45 versus the $2.01 estimate.

Stocks reacting to company earnings reports included: 

• ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. CHPT
• Ross Stores, Inc. ROST
• Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RIGL
• CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. CRWD  
• Box, Inc. BOX
• Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. SQM
• AeroVironment, Inc. AVAV
• Stem, Inc. STEM
• Foot Locker, Inc. FL
• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF
• Arbe Robotics Ltd. ARBE

Companies reporting after Wednesday’s closing bell include: 

• Grindr Inc. GRND
• LendingTree, Inc. TREE
• MongoDB, Inc. (NAS+DAQ:MDB)
• Rigetti Computing, Inc. RGTI
• Marvell Technology, Inc. MRVL
• Zscaler, Inc. ZS
• Victorias Secret & Co. VSCO
• Fortuna Mining Corp. FSM

Read Next: 

• Markets Tank After Trump Confirms More Tariffs: Here's What Wall Street Is Saying

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