Risk-on sentiment dominated Wall Street on Wednesday, as upbeat earnings reports and conciliatory messages from the Trump administration helped lift investor confidence.

The administration eased market fears on two major fronts that have recently weighed heavily on sentiment. On the trade front, tensions with China appeared to thaw, with reports suggesting the White House is considering reducing tariffs on certain categories of goods.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added fuel to the rally, stating U.S.-China tariffs are unsustainable and will likely need to be lowered to facilitate meaningful negotiations.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump offered an abrupt shift in tone toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying he has no intention to fire him, a remark that helped calm concerns over political interference in monetary policy.

By midday in New York, the S&P 500 was up by nearly 2%, though it had earlier climbed even higher. The Nasdaq 100 outperformed with a 2.5% gain, driven by strength in Magnificent Seven stocks.

Trump's pivot on Powell pushed Treasury yields lower across the curve, with the 30-year yield falling five basis points to 4.83%, after briefly topping 4.90% the previous day.

On the macro front, flash Purchasing Managers’ Index surveys revealed slowing growth momentum in the U.S. economy, as the services sector decelerated sharply following the impact of recent tariff shocks.

The U.S. dollar strengthened, while gold plunged 2.6%, heading for its worst session since November.

Oil prices dropped more than 2% following speculation that OPEC+ may announce a new output hike as early as next month.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin BTC/USD held steady around $93,000.

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

Major Indices	Price	Chg	1-day %
Nasdaq 100	18,732.09	+455.68	2.5%
Russell 2000	1,926.45	+37.40	2.0%
S&P 500	5,384.67	+96.91	1.8%
Dow Jones	39,724.87	+537.89	1.4%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 1.9% to $537.35.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 1.4% to $397.79.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rallied 2.7% to $456.50.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM soared 2.1% to $191.47.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK outperformed, up 3.44%; the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund XLP lagged, down 1.2%.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

• Tesla Inc. TSLA jumped 6.6% despite falling short on both earnings and revenue expectations, as CEO Elon Musk reassured investors by pledging to scale back his involvement with DOGE and refocus on the company.

Other stocks reacting to earnings report included:

• Intuitive Surgical Inc. ISRG: up 2.8%
• Chubb Limited CB: down 2.6%
• Capital One Financial Corp. COF: up 4.6%
• Steel Dynamics Inc. STLD: up 4.7%
• EQT Corporation EQT: up 3%
• Packaging Corporation of America PKG: down 1.7%
• Baker Hughes Co. BKR: down 4.3%
• Enphase Energy Inc. ENPH: down 14.4%​
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO: down 0.5%
• Philip Morris International Inc. PM: up 2.6%
• NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE: up 1%
• Boston Scientific Corporation BSX: up 4.8%
• General Dynamics Corporation GD: down 3.4%
• Boeing Co BA: up 5.7%
• Norfolk Southern Corporation NSC: up 1.4%
• CME Group Inc. CME: down 3.8%
• TE Connectivity Ltd. TEL: up 2.7%
• Amphenol Corporation APH: up 9.9%
• AT&T Inc. T: up 0.8%
• Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. ODFL: up 1.3%
• Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation WAB: up 7.2%
• Masco Corporation MAS: down 2.1%
• Avery Dennison Corporation AVY: down 2.4%
• Lennox International Inc. LII: down 8.2%
• GE Vernova Inc. GEV: up 5.2%
• Teledyne Technologies Incorporated TDY: down 1.7%
• Otis Worldwide Corp OTIS: down 6%​

• Stocks slated to report earnings after the bell include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. ORLY, Raymond James Financial, Inc. RJF, Molina Healthcare, Inc. MOH, Texas Instruments Inc TXN, FirstEnergy Corp. FE, ServiceNow, Inc. NOW, Lam Research Corp LRCX, Resmed Inc. RMD, Discover Financial Services DFS, International Business Machines Corporation IBM, Newmont Corporation NEM, Rollins Inc. ROL, United Rentals Inc. URI, Tyler Technologies Inc. TYL, Edwards Lifesciences Corp EW, Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS, and Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK.

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