9.50am: Nasdaq leads gains as semiconductors gain, HPE and Dollar Tree among big movers

The Nasdaq took an early lead as Wall Street stocks opened higher on Wednesday, with a group of semiconductor names were driving the gains.

After the first 20 minutes of trading the tech-heavy index was up 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones climbed 0.3% and 0.2%. The small and mid-cap Russell 2000 gained 0.3%. 

Super Micro Computer, GlobalFoundries, Broadcom, NXP and ON Semiconductor were among the top risers. 

On the S&P, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE, ETR:2HP) was top riser, as the IT infrastructure provider reported strong earnings for its fiscal second quarter.

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) was the biggest faller, down 8.25% after a mixed earnings update just as the stock hit a nine-month high. 

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) was down 7.9% after the cybersecurity company’s second-quarter revenue outlook came in below analysts’ estimates, hit by the Windows-related outage last year. 

8am: S&P 500 and Russell 2000 projected to lead modest gains

Wall Street stocks have been called slightly higher ahead of trading on Wednesday as Donald Trump’s new 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports come into force, but the President seemed to bemoan a lack of progress in China trade talks.

Futures for the S&P 500 and small-cap Russell 2000 were up around 0.2%, while Dow Jones futures and those for the Nasdaq 100 were up either side of 0.15%. 

Trading in New York yesterday saw investors overcome a nervous start as all the major indices fought their way to a positive finish, led by a 1.6% gain for the domestically focused Russell 2000 and a 0.8% increase for the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones both closed up 0.5% despite the sizeable downgrade to the economic growth forecast from the OECD, which expects the US to be the hardest hit among major economies due to the impact of tariffs.

Yesterday, market sentiment was helped by a positive JOLTS job openings update, which surpassed expectations and signalled underlying resilience in the labour market, before President Trump signed a proclamation that confirmed the doubling of tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum as of midnight.

The UK was the only country exempt from the hike, as the only country to have struck a trade agreement with the US so far.

With other trade deals conspicuous by their absence, White House officials said letters have been sent to other countries as a “friendly reminder” that Trump’s 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs runs out at the start of next month. Today also marks the deadline for trading partners to offer up their best trade concessions.

Amid reports that a top-level US-China trade call will take place this week, Trump fired off a social media post last night, saying “I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!” after another earlier in the day that had said that “because of tariffs, our economy is BOOMING!” 

There was no response, however, after Tesla boss Elon Musk, who recently departed his role in the White House’s ‘DOGE’ department slammed the President’s tax cuts bill.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote on his own social media platform last night, adding: “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.”

The dollar remained soft, with the dollar index not far above recent lows. WTI crude oil was little moved at $63.4 a barrel, after yesterday’s gains.

While the US stock indexes have posted relatively modest daily gains so far this week, “they have all contributed to a decent start to the month”, said market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation.

With both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 creeping back up to within sight of February’s all-time highs, while the Dow and the Russell 2000 continue to lag, “the disparity between the two pairs of indices demonstrates that, once again, it is tech which is at the vanguard of the move higher”, he said.

“This indicates investor conviction that highly innovative tech companies should be relatively immune to President Trump’s ever-changing tariffs.

“In addition, many investors continue to look past the current trade confusion, convinced that it will all turn out fine in the end.”

He said trade “will remain in focus for the rest of the week”. 

Today’s data includes ADP payrolls, which came in at 37K, down from 60K last time but well below the 115K consensus.