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postUS stock futures jumped Wednesday after President Trump said he has “no intention” of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, easing Wall Street fears over the central bank’s independence. Meanwhile, Trump also softened his tone on tariffs, hinting that eye-popping duty levels on Chinese imports would ultimately be scaled back.
Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) popped 1.7%, gaining nearly 700 points, while futures attached to the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F) jumped 2.3%. Futures attached to the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) soared 2.8%.
CBOT – Delayed Quote • USD
As of 7:57:24 AM EDT. Market Open.
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. “I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” the president said.
Trump’s comments marked a clear softening in tone toward Powell, offering relief to investors who had feared a growing rift between the two could add to uncertainty in a market already shaken by tariffs.
As recently as Monday, Trump had called the Fed chair a “major loser,” causing stocks to tank. Last week, the president said Powell’s termination couldn’t come “fast enough.”
Wall Street was also upbeat thanks to new signs trade talks between the US and major trading partners might advance.
On China tariffs, Trump said he expects them to come down “substantially,” while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called them “unsustainable.” Vice President JD Vance also said talks with India had made progress.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Tesla (TSLA) stock jumped 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 Bitcoin (BTC-USD), which extended gains past $93,000. Nvidia (NVDA) also rose over 4% on Wednesday.
Corporate earnings season continues today, with results due from Boeing (BA), Chipotle (CMG), IBM (IBM), and AT&T (T).
LIVE 7 updates
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Trending tickers this morning: Tesla, Robinhood, Vertiv, GE Vernova
US stock futures flew higher during premarket trading on Wednesday as relief swept the markets after President Trump seemed to relent on some of his threats against Fed Chair Powell and his trade war with China.
In addition to the “Magnificent Seven” stocks, which were all up, here are some individual movers surging premarket:
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Americans are expecting a tariff-fueled price surge. Corporate America says they’re right.
Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland notes that, as expected, tariffs have become a central topic in earnings calls. He writes that the only question is about the magnitude of these increases, not their existence.
More from the Morning Brief:
Read more here.
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
Economic data: S&P Global US manufacturing & Services PMI (April preliminary); New home sales (March); Fed releases Beige Book
Earnings: Chipotle (CMG), Alaska Air Group (ALK), AT&T (T), Boeing (BA), GE Vernova (GEV), IBM (IBM), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Newmont (NEM), NextEra Energy (NEE), O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY), Philip Morris International (PM), ServiceNow (NOW), Texas Instruments (TXN), Vertiv (VRT)
Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:
Americans expect tariff-driven price surge. Companies say they’re right.
Trump: ‘I have no intention of firing’ Fed’s Powell
Tesla stock climbs as Musk plans to cut time spent on DOGE
Intel to announce plans this week to cut over 20% of staff
Bitcoin surges as US seeks to ease trade, Fed tensions
Trump: ‘I’ll be very nice to China’
AT&T leans on bundled plans to beat estimates for subscriber additions
Gold drops as Trump’s softer stance on Fed and China ease fears
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Tesla stock climbs as Musk plans to cut time spent on DOGE
Tesla (TSLA) stock rose 6% on Wednesday after CEO Elon Musk announced he would reduce his hours spent on DOGE, following the company’s first-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, which missed forecasts.
Yahoo Finance’s senior reporter Pras Subramanian reports on Musk’s strategy to navigate Tesla’s challenges.
Read more here.
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Bitcoin surges as US seeks to ease trade, Fed tensions
Bloomberg News reports:
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to climb after US President Donald Trump said he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, easing concerns over the central bank’s autonomy.
The largest cryptocurrency rose about 3% before trimming some gains to exchange hands at $93,804 at 7:28 a.m. in London on Wednesday. Smaller tokens including Ether, XRP and Solana also rose.
Bitcoin topped $90,000 on April 22 in a sign it was breaking free of a longstanding tendency to move in the same direction as US stocks. But the token then rose in line with stocks and the dollar after Trump’s comments on Powell and amid optimism that trade tensions may be easing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a closed-door investor summit Tuesday that the tariff standoff with China cannot be sustained by both sides and that the world’s two largest economies will have to find ways to de-escalate.
Read more here.
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Global shares jump on hopes tariff war may subside
Asian shares rose overnight Tuesday as concerns over Trump’s railing against the Fed’s Jerome Powell were abated by the announcement that the president had “no intention” of trying to remove the chair from his office.
Read more here.
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Oil rebounds following Trump’s declaration of ‘no intent’ to fire Fed’s Powell
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
