New York, Jan 22 (AP) US stocks are rising again and regaining more of their losses for the week following the latest walkback by President Donald Trump from tariffs that he had earlier threatened. The
S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent in early trading Thursday and added to its big gain from Wednesday, when Trump said he had reached the “framework” of a deal over Greenland and would scrap tariffs he had said he would impose on several European countries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 468 points, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8 per cent. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market following some encouraging reports on the U.S. economy.
Wall Street was poised to open with gains Thursday, adding to the rally from a day earlier when US President Donald Trump walked back his tariff threats on eight European countries over Greenland and ruled out using military force to take control of the territory.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent before the bell Thursday while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.3 per cent. Nasdaq futures jumped 0.8 per cent. All three rallied to 1.2 per cent gains on Wednesday but are still down for the week.
Shares of the power generator maker Generac are up 3 per cent with a potentially catastrophic ice storm about to slam into a large swath of the US.
Procter & Gamble slipped 1.2 per cent after it barely nudged past Wall Street’s second-quarter profit targets and came up just short of revenue projections. The company, which owns a bevy of home and personal care brands such as Pampers and Crest, lowered the range on one measure of its full-year profit guidance.
Spice maker McCormick & Co. slumped 6.8 per cent after it missed profit targets and issued disappointing guidance as it continues to face higher commodity prices.
Railroad operator CSX reports after the closing bell Thursday.
The US will release new data on jobless claims, as well as an updated estimate of third-quarter US gross domestic product. A delayed inflation report for November and December is also landing Thursday.
US markets logged their biggest losses since October on Tuesday as investors reacted to Trump’s threat over the weekend to slap tariffs of 10 per cent on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland for opposing US control of Greenland, sparking concerns over worsening relationships between the US and its European allies.
But Trump, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, backed down on Wednesday and said he would not use force to acquire Greenland. The US president also said in a post on his social media site that he had agreed with the head of NATO on a “framework of a future deal” on Greenland and on Arctic security.
At midday in Europe, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 each added 1.2 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 picked up 0.4 per cent.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.7 per cent to 53,688.89, with technology stocks leading gains. SoftBank Group jumped 11.6 per cent and equipment maker Disco Corp. soared 17.1 per cent. Advantest, which makes testing equipment for computer chips, surged 5 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.9 per cent higher at 4,952.44 after crossing the 5,000 mark for the first time, as traders cheered. Technology-related stocks drove the rally. Shares of chipmaker SK Hynix picked up 2 per cent, while Samsung Electronics rose 1.9 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged less than 0.1 per cent higher to 26,600.68. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1 per cent higher to 4,122.58.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.8 per cent to 8,848.70.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.6 per cent, while India’s Sensex added 0.2 per cent.
The price of gold fell 0.2 per cent to USD 4,829.80 per ounce, reflecting investors’ reduced worries, after passing the USD 4,800 mark ahead of Trump’s reversal of stance on Greenland as many flocked to safe-haven assets.
In the bond market, US Treasury yields also eased following lessened fear among investors as well as a calming of Japan’s bond market turmoil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.25 per cent from 4.29 per cent late Wednesday.
Japan’s long-term bond yields surged to records earlier this week after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decision to call a snap election in February. That sparked concerns over her pledges to cut taxes and increase spending, which could hinder efforts to rein in government debt.
The US dollar rose to 158.78 Japanese yen from 158.27 yen, prompting analysts to speculate that authorities might intervene if the yen falls any further.
US benchmark crude oil shed 89 cents to USD 59.73 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 92 cents to USD 64.32 per barrel. (AP) RD RD
