WALL STREET ENDS HIGHER ON HOPES OF TRADE WAR DE-ESCALATION – All three major U.S. stock indexes pared gains by the closing bell
Wall Street stocks advanced on revived hopes for progress in the U.S.-China trade dispute and as President Donald Trump soothed fears the Federal Reserve could lose its autonomy with reassurances that he has “no intention of firing” Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
All three major U.S. stock indexes pared gains by the closing bell. They gathered momentum during the session after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said high tariffs between the U.S. and China were unsustainable and Trump signaled he was open to easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
First-quarter earnings season has hit full stride, with 110 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 75% have beaten Wall Street estimates, according to LSEG. Analysts now see aggregate S&P 500 earnings growth of 8.4% for the Jan to March period, up from an even 8.0% as of April 1, per LSEG.
