NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting in a rare quiet day for financial markets worldwide, for now at least. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in early trading Tuesday, though it’s been prone to huge swings not just day to day but also hour to hour. It’s regularly careened more than 1 percentage point within each day as markets struggle to keep up with President Donald Trump’s trade war, which economists warn could cause a global recession unless it’s scaled back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 60 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher. The bond market was also showing more signs of calm.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Wall Street teetered toward small losses in relatively calm trading Tuesday morning after President Donald Trump on some of his tariffs and eased.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each ticked down 0.3%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%.
In contrast to the latest tariff pullback announcement, the Trump administration took steps toward imposing more tariffs, saying it was the national security implications of imports of pharmaceuticals, computer chips and related products.
“You know the drill: one step forward, two steps back, then a whiplash pivot into carrot-and-stick diplomacy. It’s becoming the signature of this White House — deliver a policy gut punch, then soften the blow with selective reprieves or 90-day pauses. It’s market management by whack-a-mole,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
Bank of America rose 1.8% in premarket trading after it beat Wall Street analysts' sales and revenue forecasts. Most big U.S. banks have been reporting strong first-quarter results, taking advantage of the volatility caused by Trump's on-again-off-again tariff announcements.
Johnson & Johnson also reported strong sales and profit in its most recent quarter, however, its shares were down 1% before the opening bell Tuesday.
Boeing shares slid 3.3% after Beijing ordered Chinese airlines not to take further deliveries of Boeing planes and to halt purchases of aircraft equipment from U.S. companies, according to a Bloomberg report.
United Airlines reports after markets close.
Treasury yields stabilized following their sudden and scary rise last week, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury holding firm from Monday at 4.37%. It had jumped to 4.48% on Friday from 4.01% the week before.
In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX rose 0.8% while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. France’s CAC 40 was essentially flat after being up early.
In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 0.8% to finish at 34,267.54.
Automakers were among the biggest gainers in Asian trading, although their early surge was moderated by closing time. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 3.7%, while Honda Motor Co. gained 3.6%. Electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp.’s stock price added 2.2%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2% to 7,761.70 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.9% to 2,477.41.
Chinese shares wobbled, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 0.2% to 21,466.27 after fluctuating much of the day. The Shanghai Composite added 0.2% to 3,267.66.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 48 cents to $61.05a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, also lost 48 cents, to $64.40 a barrel. The International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for global oil demand this year citing escalating trade tensions. The price of a barrel of U.S. crude is down about 14% so far in April.
The U.S. dollar fell to 142.87 Japanese yen from 143.04 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1330.
Yuri Kageyama And Matt Ott, The Associated Press
