US stocks ticked up Wednesday as Wall Street scoured the latest earnings for signs that corporate America is weathering the tariff turmoil that’s keeping inflation aloft.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.3% after the blue-chip index lost over 400 points on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up nearly 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) edged up roughly 0.1%.
Solid earnings from Bank of America (BAC) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) helped ease some Wall Street worry about President Trump’s cycle of escalating tariff threats. BofA’s trading desks benefited from trade policy-driven market gyrations, as did those at fellow banks Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS).
At the same time, markets took in another inflation checkup that provided better news on that front. Wednesday’s release of the Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale inflation, was unchanged last month and rose 2.3% year over year, below estimates.
The release came after the latest consumer price reading spurred traders to pare bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. Tuesday’s CPI report showed inflation accelerated in June. It rose at its fastest year-over-year clip since February, with signs of tariff-driven inflation starting to show up in the data.
Read more: Full earnings coverage in our live blog
That has led to more speculation that the Fed will stand pat on rates not just this month — an outcome that seems virtually guaranteed at this point — but also in September, even as President Trump pushes furiously for cuts.
As the market attempts to digest the early effects of Trump’s trade moves, he has signaled that tariffs on drug imports will probably come in on Aug. 1, when the pause on implementation of “reciprocal” rates lifts. Implementation of levies on semiconductors are likely to follow the same timeline.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Meanwhile, Trump has plowed ahead with plans to impose increased duties next month on key trading partners, including the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. Trump announced Tuesday that the US had reached a deal with Indonesia as it continues talks.
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Trending tickers: J&J, ASML, Goldman Sachs, SharpLink Gaming
Here’s a look a the top trending tickers in premarket trading as earnings season kicks off:
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Wholesale prices increase less than expected in June
Wholesale prices rose less than expected in June.
Wednesday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that its producer price index (PPI) — which tracks the price changes companies see — rose 2.3% from the year prior, below the 2.7% seen in May and lower than the 2.5% increase economists had projected. On a monthly basis, prices were flat. Economists had expected 0.2% increase.
Excluding food and energy, “core” prices rose 2.6% year over year, below the 3.2% gain seen in May. Economists had expected an increase of 2.7%. Meanwhile, month-over-month core prices were flat below the 0.2% increase economists had expected and the 0.3% gain seen last month.
The report follows Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which showed core price increases accelerated to 2.9% in June.
Goldman stock gains as trading and dealmaking boosts profits
Shares of Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Citigroup (C) were moving higher in premarket trading on Wednesday after the Wall Street firms reported higher dealmaking and trading revenue this week to kick off earnings season.
Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith reports:
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Markets are now ho-hum about tariff threats. Trump and Wall Street disagree about why.
Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reports:
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Chip linchpin ASML warns on 2026 growth amid tariff headwinds
ASML (ASML, ASML.AS) shares slumped almost 8% in premarket trading after the chip industry linchpin said it may not achieve growth in 2026.
The warning came even as the world’s biggest supplier of chipmaking gear’s second quarter bookings topped Wall Street estimates on Wednesday.
Reuters reported:
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Gold rises as trade war fears bolster haven asset
Gold (GC=F) rose overnight Tuesday as a wave of tariff updates did little to appease flighty investors looking for safe investments. With multiple rocky trade deals on the table, markets have pushed back into the valuable metal which has risen by over 25% this year so far.
Bloomberg reports:
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Trump order to open up private investment to retirement plans.
President Trump is in the process of signing an executive order that will allow retirement plan providers to invest more heavily in private assets, according to those familiar with the matter. The order should take place within the next few days and will open up retirement plans to riskier investments.
Reuters reports:
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