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Stocks On Hold as China-U.S. Talks Stall, Small Businesses to Bear Brunt of Tariff-Driven Hikes

Barry Adams
10 Jun, 2025
New York City

Stock market indexes on Wall Street traded around the flatline as investors awaited the details of a possible trade agreement between the U.S. and China.

The S&P 500 index edged up 0.09%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched higher 0.2% amid expectations that the world's two largest economies can avoid imposing sky-high tariffs.

Investors remained skeptical because of the previous flip-flops, despite the Trump administration's signaling "progress" in trade talks.

Moreover, investors are worried that the Trump administration will impose a minimum of 15% tariff on Chinese goods, stoking inflationary fears in the imminent future.

The sharp decline in crude oil of about 1% from the high of $78 a barrel has contributed to the decline in overall inflation over the four months, but the decrease in price is driven by the fears of a recession and fall in demand growth outlook.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased to 98.8 in May, a three-month high, compared to 95.8 in April, the National Federation of Independent Business reported Tuesday.

“Although optimism recovered slightly in May, uncertainty is still high among small business owners,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg.

Small businesses in logistics, traveling, entertainment, online retail, business marketing, independent restaurants, and home building continue to report sharp swings in revenue, according to an independent survey conducted by Ticker.com in May.

Commodities, Currencies, Indexes, Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.1% to 6,014.47, the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.1% to 19,616.54, and the Russell 2000 index advanced 1.1% to 2,155.11.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.00%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.45%, and 30-year Treasury bonds declined to 4.92%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.14 to $65.43 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged lower by $0.02 to $3.62 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $17.38 to 3,343.22 an ounce, and silver edged down by $0.14 to $36.62.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, decreased by 0.03 to 98.91 and traded at the lowest level since April 2022.

U.S. Movers

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store declined 2.9% to $59.0, and the restaurant chain operator filed to raise $275 million in a private offering of convertible senior notes.

Calavo Growers plunged 14% to $23.80 after the avocado, tomato, and papaya grower reported sales and earnings below analysts' expectations.

Net sales increased to $190.55 million from $184.38 million, net income jumped to $6.85 million from $6.06 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to 38 cents from 34 cents a year ago.

Fresh segment sales edged up 4.7%, and prepared segment sales climbed 9.9% from a year ago, respectively.

Over the last five years to date, Calavo stock has declined 51% because of falling sales and consistent but shrinking losses.

Limoneira Co. declined 13% to $14.07 after the citrus grower announced weaker-than-expected sales and losses in the fiscal second quarter.

Limoneira and Sunkist Growers also announced a "strategic merger" of Limoneira's sales and marketing operation with the farming cooperative group.

Limoneira said the "merger" agreement is expected to save the company about $5 million in annual costs and operating earnings improvement.

J.M. Smucker dropped 7.9% to $103.0 after the food company reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $2.14 billion.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing added 2.2% to $211.49 after the advanced chip maker reported revenue in May increased 39% from a year ago.

For the first five months to May, revenue advanced 42.6% from a year ago, according to the company's statement to investors.

U.S. Movers: Calavo Growers, Limoneira

Scott Peters
10 Jun, 2025
New York City

Calavo Growers Inc. plunged 13.5% to $23.95 despite the provider of avocado, tomato, and papaya products reporting improved results for the fiscal second quarter ending on April 30.

Net sales increased to $190.55 million from $184.38 million, net income jumped to $6.85 million from $6.06 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to 38 cents from 34 cents a year ago.

Fresh segment sales edged up 4.7%, and prepared segment sales climbed 9.9% from a year ago, respectively.

Net sales for the six months ending in April increased to $344.93 million from $311.99 million, net income swung to a profit of $11.26 million from a loss of $205 million, and diluted earnings per share swung to a profit of 63 cents from a loss of 1 cent a year earlier.

In the six months, fresh segment sales jumped 12.4% and prepared segment sales rose 5.4% from a year ago, respectively.

Limoneira Co. edged up 0.9% to $16.33 after the diversified citrus growing, packing, selling, and marketing company with related agribusiness activities and real estate development operations reported financial results for the second quarter ending on April 30.

Revenue declined to $35.12 million from $44.61 million, net income swung to a loss of $3.49 million from a profit of $6.44 million, and diluted earnings per share swung to a loss of 20 cents from a profit of 35 cents a year ago.

The company announced its plan to merge its citrus sales and marketing into Sunkist Growers Inc., expecting to generate $5 million in annual selling and marketing cost savings and EBITDA improvement beginning in fiscal year 2026.

The transaction is expected to be finalized in November.

California-based Limoneira will return to Sunkist as one of its largest lemon growers and an exclusive licensed packer, the agri-food group said in a statement.

U.S. Movers: Calavo Growers