Wall Street Indexes Staged Mild Rebound After Focus Shif

Barry Adams
04 Feb, 2025
New York City

Stock market indexes in New York lacked direction, but market volatility subsided, and investors shifted their attention to the latest batch of corporate earnings. 

The S&P 500 index advanced 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%, as focus turned away from the threat of tariffs that appear to be designed for political consumption rather than economic reasons.

Investors are increasingly worried that the Trump administration may not be capable of providing the steady and stable policy backdrop needed to support economic growth and bring down elevated inflation. 

The U.S. suspended the threat of 25% tariffs on goods shipped from Mexico and Canada for the next thirty days, with little to show for it in return. 

However, Chinese goods will face an additional 10% tariff, which is most likely to be passed on to consumers and fuel inflation in the weeks ahead. 

China retaliated with its own set of tariffs on U.S. goods effective February 10. 

China slapped tariffs of up to 15% on coal and liquefied natural gas, and additional tariffs on crude oil, farm equipment, and selected automobiles and vehicles. 

China also opened an investigation into the business practices of Google, and sources in Beijing confirm that the government is likely to expand investigations to other American companies doing business in Greater China. 

On the earnings front, investors reviewed the latest earnings from Estee Lauder, Palantir, UBS, Dassault Systèmes, PayPal, Pfizer, and PepsiCo. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.2% to 6,005.19, the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.5% to 19,485.18, and the Russell 2000 index was down 1.28% to 2,258.42.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged higher to 4.27%, 10-year Treasury notes increased to 4.58%, and 30-year Treasury bonds advanced to 4.82%.

WTI crude oil decreased $2.31 to $70.86 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged lower by $0.18 to $3.17 a thermal unit.

Gold rose by $19.17 to $2,832.85 an ounce, and silver edged up by $0.41 to $31.89.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, declined 0.13 to 108.29 and traded at a two-year high.