WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an initial move to the downside, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. With the upward move on the day, the S&P 500 has reached a new record intraday high.
Currently, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 172.83 points or 0.9 percent at 20,375.72 and the S&P 500 is up 17.53 points or 0.3 percent at 6,215.54, although the narrower Dow has bucked the uptrend and dipped 47.32 points or 0.1 percent at 44,447.62.
The strength that has emerged on Wall Street comes after President Donald Trump announced that he has reached a trade deal with Vietnam.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the terms of the deal call for Vietnam to pay a 20 percent tariff on goods sent to the U.S. and a 40 percent tariff on any transshipping.
'In return, Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade,' Trump said.
He continued, 'In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff.'
Stocks initially moved lower after payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of June.
ADP said private sector employment fell by 33,000 jobs in June after rising by a downwardly revised 29,000 jobs in May.
Economists had expected private sector employment to increase by 95,000 jobs compared to the addition of 37,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Steel stocks have moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 3.8 percent to a seven-month intraday high.
Significant strength has also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Computer hardware, oil service and brokerage stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while utilities stocks have shown a notable move to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.0 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a notable move to the downside. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.1 basis points at 4.30 percent.
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