WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the mixed performance seen in the previous session, stocks have moved modestly higher during trading on Wednesday. The major averages have al moved to the upside, although buying interest appears somewhat subdued.
Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Dow is up 239.55 points or 0.5 percent at 44,741.99, the Nasdaq is up 36.52 points or 0.2 percent at 20,929.21 and the S&P 500 is up 21.99 points or 0.4 percent at 6,331.61.
The modest strength on Wall Street comes after President Donald Trump announced trade deals with Japan and the Philippines.
The 'largest ever' U.S. trade deal with Japan features a 15 percent tariff on Japanese exports and includes a commitment from Tokyo to invest $550 billion in the United States and open its markets for American vehicles, rice, and other agricultural goods.
Trump claimed the U.S. would receive 90 percent of profits from the agreement and that the pact could generate hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
According to Trump, the new trade pact with the Philippines would make the county an open market with zero tariffs on U.S. goods, but with Manila paying a 19 percent duty.
The announcement of these trade deals spurred expectations of further trade agreements as the August 1st deadline nears.
'News of a trade agreement between the US and Japan is fostering optimism among investors that further deals might be reached before punishing tariffs come into force,' says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
He added, 'The beleaguered Japanese car industry revved up on the news and, with talks ongoing to extend the cut-off on China's tariffs, it appears next month's deadline could become more of a speed bump than a cliff edge for the market.'
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the U.S. pulled back by more than expected in the month of June.
NAR said existing home sales slumped by 2.7 percent to an annual rate of 3.93 million in June after jumping by 1.0 percent to a revised rate of 4.04 million in May.
Economists had expected existing home sales to fall by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.01 million from the 4.03 million originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Oil service stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surging by 3.9 percent.
Substantial strength is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Airline, networking and biotechnology stocks are also seeing notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index spiked by 3.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.6 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.4 basis points at 4.380 percent.
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