US stocks mostly rose Wednesday after getting some relief from an encouraging inflation update. But even on a rare up day for the market, President Trump's trade war still knocked stocks around.
- The S&P 500 rose 27.23 points, or 0.5%, to 5,599.30 after skidding between an even bigger early gain and a later loss.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82.55 points, or 0.2%, to 41,350.93. It pinballed sharply earlier in the day, careening between a gain of 287 points and a loss of 423.
- The Nasdaq composite rose 212.35 points, or 1.2%, to 17,648.45.
The inflation report, which showed overall prices rose less for US consumers last month than expected, helped companies in the artificial-intelligence industry lead the way on Wall Street, the
AP reports.
Nvidia climbed 6.4% to trim its loss for the year so far to 13.9%. Server-maker Super Micro Computer rallied 4%, and GE Vernova, which is helping to power AI data centers, rose 5.1%. Elon Musk's Tesla, whose price had more than halved since mid-December, had its first back-to-back gain in a month. It added 7.6%. Delta Air Lines sank 3% for one of the market's sharper losses to compound its drop of 7.3% from the prior day, when the carrier said it's seeing demand weaken for close-in bookings for its flights.
Among the hardest hit were businesses that could be set to feel pain because of Trump's trade war. Brown-Forman, the company behind Jack Daniel's whiskey, tumbled 5.1%, and Harley-Davidson sank 5.7%. US bourbon and motorcycles are just two of the products the European Union is targeting with its own tariffs on US products that it announced Wednesday. The moves were in response to Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that kicked in earlier in the day. Canada also hit back with tariffs announced on US tools, sports equipment, and other products. "We deeply regret this measure," European Union President Ursula von der Leyen said. "Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and worse for consumers."
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