The US stock market fell first and then rose. The three major indexes closed higher, with the Dow Jones Index rising by more than 230 points. The market is waiting for US President Trump to announce “reciprocal tariffs” on trading partners. Data showed that private enterprise job growth was better than expected, which relieved the stock market’s concerns about the slowdown in the job market. After Trump announced the tariff measures, US stock futures plunged, and the gold price approached the $3,200 mark.
Market conditions on April 2 (Wednesday)
l Dow Jones Index rose 235.36 points or 0.56% to 42,225.32 points.
l S&P 500 Index rose 37.90 points or 0.67% to 5,670.97 points.
l Nasdaq Index rose 151.16 points or 0.87% to 17,601.05 points.
l New York May crude oil closed at $71.71 a barrel, up $0.51 or 0.7%.
l New York June gold closed at $3,166.2 an ounce, up $20.2 or 0.6%.
l Bitcoin was at $84,735.98 as of 5 p.m. Eastern Time, down $589.17 or 0.69%.
l The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rate closed at 4.196%, up 4.0 basis points.
Tesla fell first and then rose, rising more than half a percent. There were reports that President Musk would withdraw from Trump’s core management within a few weeks, including the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk then said that the news that he left DOGE was fake news.
Although Tesla announced that its vehicle deliveries this quarter were only 336,700 units, a year-on-year drop of 13%, returning to the level of the fourth quarter of 2022, far below the market’s expectation of 390,000 units, the market believes that Musk’s distance from Trump will help the company rebuild its image and brand value.
The performance of the seven technology giants varied. Amazon rose 2%, while Google’s parent company Alphabet and Facebook’s parent company Meta were weak. It was reported that TikTok’s US business received many acquisition offers, including Amazon, digital advertising company AppLovin, and the founder of adult website OnlyFans and crypto foundations, which may reduce the risk of TikTok being banned.
The conservative media Newsmax, which has been soaring in recent days, gave up 77% of its gains.
Wall Street traders generally believe that Trump’s tariff news may increase short-term selling pressure on US stocks.
Alexander Altmann, head of global equity tactical strategy at Barclays, said that his biggest concern is that Trump’s statement leaves room for interpretation, making trade policy unpredictable. : “Uncertainty is the killer of everything in the market. It kills investment decisions, corporate spending, and kills corporate and consumer confidence.” JPMorgan Chase’s trading desk is also bearish on the stock market in the short term, citing policy uncertainty and the potential impact of tariffs on the economy.
Data from human resources agency ADP showed that U.S. private companies added 155,000 employees in March 2025, higher than the expected 105,000, and previously revised up to 84,000 in February. The service industry added 132,000 jobs, and the goods production sector added 24,000 jobs.
U.S. factory orders rose 0.6% month-on-month in February, lower than the previous 1.8%. The forecast value was 0.5%.
Former Allianz President Mohamed El-Erian said he expects the Fed to cut interest rates only once this year (by 0.25%), half of what Fed officials predict. He called the Fed “dove-like in nature.”
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