The call comes amid accusations between Washington and Beijing in recent weeks over critical minerals in a dispute that threatens to tear up a fragile truce in the trade war between the two biggest economies.
“I have no idea what the outcome will be. That’s what makes investing in this environment really difficult,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management.
“I think it’s less about trying to predict what he’s going to do and more about trying to build and maintain a portfolio that can succeed despite the curveballs coming our way.”
Weaker-than-expected U.S. private payrolls and services sector data on Wednesday raised concerns about an economic slowdown caused by trade uncertainties, with investors focusing squarely on Friday’s non-farm payrolls report.
Initial jobless claims data on Thursday showed Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week rose for a second straight week.
The jobs report comes ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision later this month, where policymakers are widely expected to hold interest rates.
Despite continued calls from Trump to slash interest rates, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has opted to stand pat so far, awaiting further data to help dictate the policy decision as tariff volatility prevails.
U.S. equities rallied sharply in May, with investors boosting the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq to their biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2023, thanks to a softening of Trump’s harsh trade stance and upbeat earnings reports.
The S&P 500 remains more than 2% below its record highs touched in February.
At 12:09 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 145.34 points, or 0.33%, to 42,573.08, the S&P 500 gained 23.25 points, or 0.39%, to 5,994.06 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 115.99 points, or 0.60%, at 19,576.48.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, with information technology shares leading gains with a 0.8% rise.
Tesla shares fell over 5%. CEO Elon Musk and self-proclaimed “First Buddy” of Trump has stepped up criticism of the president’s massive tax legislation in recent days, causing nervousness among investors.
Brown-Forman fell nearly 17%, the most on the S&P 500, after the Jack Daniel’s maker forecast a decline in annual revenue and profit.
Procter & Gamble said it will cut 7,000 jobs, or about 6% of its workforce, over the next two years, as part of a restructuring. Shares of the consumer goods bellwether fell 1.2%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.39-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 46 new highs and 25 new lows.
