Financial-Markets                      07/09 15:29

   

   Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as the Trump administration sought to 
win more deals with global trading partners. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% Wednesday. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 
0.9%. Nvidia became the first public company to top $4 trillion in value. Merck 
rose after announcing it would buy Verona Pharma, a U.K. company that focuses 
on respiratory diseases. Copper prices eased after spiking a day earlier as 
President Donald Trump said he would impose 50% tariffs on imports of the 
metal. Treasury yields slipped in the bond market.

   THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

   U.S. stocks are higher in afternoon trading Wednesday as Wall Street weighs 
the latest developments in the Trump administration's bid to win more deals 
with global trading partners.

   The S&P 500 was up 0.5%, coming off a slight loss a day earlier. The 
benchmark index remains near the record it set last week after a 
better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

   The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 179 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:52 p.m. 
Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher.

   Gains in technology and communication services stocks helped drive the 
market higher, outweighing declines in energy and other sectors.

   Nvidia rose 1.7%. The chipmaker became the first public company to top $4 
trillion in value as its share price briefly topped $164 each in the early 
going. Shares in the AI boom poster child were going for around $14 per share 
at the start of 2023.

   Elsewhere among Big Tech stocks, Microsoft was up 1.2%, Meta rose 2.1% and 
Google parent Alphabet added 1.2%.

   Amazon rose 1.5% a day after the online retail giant kicked off Prime Day, 
extending it for the first time to four days.

   In bond market trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury slid to 4.34% from 
4.40% late Tuesday.

   Wall Street has been focused this week on President Donald Trump's renewed 
push to use threats of higher tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. in hopes 
of securing new trade agreements with countries around the globe.

   Wednesday was initially set as a deadline by Trump for countries to make 
deals with the U.S. or face heavy increases in tariffs. But with just two trade 
deals announced since April, one with the United Kingdom and one with Vietnam, 
the window for negotiations has been extended to Aug. 1.

   This latest phase in the White House's trade war heightens the threat of 
potentially more severe tariffs that's been hanging over the global economy. 
Higher taxes on imported goods could hinder economic growth, if not increase 
recession risks.

   On Tuesday, Trump said he would be announcing tariffs on pharmaceutical 
drugs at a "very, very high rate, like 200%." He also said he would sign an 
executive order placing a 50% tariff on copper imports, matching the rates 
charged on steel and aluminum.

   Copper prices eased Wednesday after spiking a day earlier. Shares in mining 
company Freeport-McMoRan were down 2%.

   Financial markets swooned from day-to-day for weeks after the White House 
rolled out its proposed tariff hikes in the spring. With the new batch of U.S. 
taxes on imports not set to kick in until next month, that gives Wall Street a 
breather just as the next corporate earnings season is set to begin.

   "I think most people are tired of tariff news and they're starting to 
realize it just doesn't matter much," said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure 
Capital Advisors. "We're pretty bullish about earnings. I think the rest of the 
market is too."

   Wall Street analysts predict that companies in the S&P 500 will deliver a 
combined 5% annual growth in second-quarter earnings, according to FactSet. 
That would mark the lowest growth rate for the index since the fourth quarter 
of 2023.

   Delta Air Lines kicks off earnings season on Thursday, with most analysts 
expecting the airline's second-quarter profit to decline from a year ago. Delta 
and other major U.S. carriers have trimmed their flight schedules and pulled 
their forecasts this year as consumers pull back on travel and other 
nonessential spending due to uncertainty about how Trump's tariffs will affect 
their budgets.

   Outside of trade talks, some corporate news surfaced Wednesday after a 
typically quiet early summer stretch.

   Pharmaceutical giant Merck is buying Verona Pharma, a U.K. company that 
focuses on respiratory diseases, in an approximately $10 billion deal. If 
approved by Verona shareholders and U.K. officials, Merck will get access to 
Verona's chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medication Ohtuvayre. Verona 
shares jumped more than 20% on the news, while Merck shares were up 3.1%.

   In overseas markets, stock indexes closed broadly higher in Europe after a 
mixed finish in Asia.

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