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Financial Markets 05/09 09:34
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are drifting Friday as Wall Street heads toward
the end of an unusually quiet week.
The S&P 500 was up 0.4% in morning trading and on track to erase what had
been a small loss for the week. This may be the first week in seven where the
index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts moves by less than 1.5%, after
swinging sharply first on fears about President Donald Trump's trade war and
then on hopes that he'll relent on some of his tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 86 points, or 0.2%, as of 10 a.m.
Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.
The big event for the week is likely coming on Saturday, when trading will
be closed in financial markets. That's when high-level U.S. and Chinese
officials will be meeting in Switzerland for their first talks since Trump
launched an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies. The
fear among investors and economists is that a recession could hit if the United
States doesn't reach trade deals that lower tariffs by enough and quickly
enough.
Trump on Friday floated the idea of bringing tariffs on Chinese imports down
to 80% from their current 145% rate, but he said it'll be up to Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent, who will be in Switzerland. While that would indeed be
a reduction, it would still be high, and Trump's posting on social media caused
a brief jolt in financial markets. Futures for U.S. stocks sank immediately.
But markets later calmed as the wait continued for what U.S. and Chinese
officials will say after their meeting.
Trump also talked up the potential for more trade deals that could be on the
way, following his announcement the day before on an agreement with the United
Kingdom.
"Many Trade Deals in the hopper, all good (GREAT!) ones!" he said on his
Truth Social network.
In the meantime, the flow of earnings reports for the start of the year from
companies is slowing but still moving the market.
Lyft rallied 20.3% after delivering a stronger profit for the latest quarter
than analysts expected, though its revenue fell short. The company said it
reached the highest weekly ridership levels in its history during the last week
of March.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the chip giant known as TSMC, offered an
encouraging report after saying its revenue in April leaped 48.1% from a year
earlier. That sent its stock that trades in the United States up 1.8%.
Insulet jumped 15.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the medical
device company reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts
expected. The company, which sells tubeless insulin pump technology, also
raised its forecast for an underlying revenue trend for the full year.
They helped offset a 7.5% drop for Expedia. The travel website, which owns
Vrbo and Hotels.com, reported a stronger profit than analysts expected, but it
also said demand was weaker than it expected during the quarter. It highlighted
softer-than-expected demand in the United States, as well as a nearly 30%
decline in bookings from Canada to its southern neighbor.
Other travel-related companies, including Hilton and Airbnb, have reported a
similar softening in travel demand to the U.S. in their recent earnings reports.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were higher in Europe after finishing mixed
in Asia.
Stocks rose 0.4% in Hong Kong but fell 0.3% in Shanghai after China reported
that its exports rose at a faster-than-expected 8.1% annual pace in April.
Exports to the United States dropped more than 20%, however, as Trump's steep
tariff increases took effect. China is the world's biggest exporter.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.36%
from 4.37% late Thursday.
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AP Writers Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed.
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