Catenaa, Wednesday, April 23, 2025- US stocks were up across the board on Wednesday after President Trump said that he has no intention of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Market also reacted to reports that Trump is considering slashing steep tariffs on China, even though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied the claims and said that US and China should reduce tariffs before talks happen between the two countries.
Still, optimism largely pervaded through Wall Street on Trump’s generally softer tone on the twin developments. Trump said Tuesday he expected China tariffs to come down “substantially,” hours after Bessent called them “unsustainable.”
The S&P 500 was up 2.2% by 1.00 Wednesday afternoon, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 620 points, or about 1.6%. The Nasdaq Composite led the gains, rising 3.3%. Keeping the gains stocks made on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Trump told reporters from the Oval Office on Tuesday that he “never did” intend to remove Powell, though he reiterated his desire for the Fed chair to reduce interest rates.
The comments offered relief to investors who had feared a growing rift between the two could add to uncertainty in a market already shaken by tariffs.
Meanwhile, Tesla stock popped over 7.6% Wednesday after posting quarterly earnings following Tuesday’s closing bell.
The EV maker missed Wall Street estimates, but its shares rose after CEO Elon Musk revealed he would ‘significantly’ reduce the time he spends on DOGE.
Other notable movers on Wednesday included Nvidia also rose over 5.1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Amazon rallied almost 5% while Meta popped by 5%.
