WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks have given back ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages have pulled back well off their best levels of the day but continue to post strong gains.
Currently, the Nasdaq is up 500.71 points or 3.1 percent at 16,801.13, the S&P 500 is up 112.59 points or 2.1 percent at 5,400.35 and the Dow is up 608.86 points or 1.6 percent at 39,795.84.
Stocks initially extended Tuesday's rally after President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
'I have no intention of firing him,' Trump told reporters on Tuesday but reiterated he would like to see Powell and the Fed resume lowering interest rates.
Trump's attacks on Powell, including calling him a 'major loser' as recently as Monday, had led to anxiety on Wall Street about the Fed's independence.
The president also suggested he's willing to take a less confrontational approach to trade talks with China, predicting the current 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports will 'come down substantially.'
Adding to the positive sentiment, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there is an 'opportunity for a big deal' between the U.S. and China.
'If they want to rebalance, let's do it together,' Bessent said during an appearance at the Institute of International Trade and Finance in Washington, D.C. 'This is an incredible opportunity.'
Buying interest has waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continue to express concerns about recent volatility in the markets triggered largely by Trump's words.
'There seems to be something different in the air. Instead of the bluster, threats and hiked tariffs which have been the hallmark of Donald Trump's administration over the past few months, a more conciliatory tone seems to be emanating from the White House,' said AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.
She added, 'Of course, one post on Truth Social could set the rollercoaster back on another circuit, but even the US president must have felt a bit ruffled when he saw the perfect storm of falling equities, a battered dollar and rising US Treasury yields.
Despite the pullback by the broader markets, shares of Tesla (TSLA) remain sharply, with the electric vehicle maker surging by 7.7 percent.
The spike by Tesla comes after the company reported weaker than expected first quarter results but CEO Elon Musk said amount of time he spends with the Department of Government Efficiency will decline 'significantly' beginning in May.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks continue to see substantial strength on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 5.1 percent.
Computer hardware, networking and software stocks also continue to turn in strong performances, contributing the surge by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Outside of the tech sector, considerable strength remains visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3.7 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Financial, retail and steel stocks are also seeing significant strength, while gold stocks are among the few groups bucking the uptrend amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.4 percent.
The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index spiked by 3.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 2.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back well off their highs but continue to see modest strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.1 basis points at 4.368 percent.
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