Wall Street ends higher with hopes for measured US trade policy
By Sinéad Carew and Johann M Cherian
Tue January 21, 2025 6:09 PM
It was a second straight day of all the indexes shooting straight up right out the gate and staying there all day, mostly on big relief that tariffs were not included among the 200+ executive orders Trump signed since yesterday. The 47th president is now hinting that he may merely impose duties on Canadian and Mexican goods rather than the much feared blanket tariffs and it remains the markets’ high hopes that the new president will indeed approach the issue, rather than issuing tariffs, instead using the mere threat as a negotiating tactic.
But the fact that it didn’t happen on Day One as he had promised, was taken as great news as expressed by today’s expert, “Markets are leaping to the conclusion, probably rightfully so, that the administration will take a more nuanced approach.” It was enough to lift the indexes well into 3-digit gains, with nuclear power getting a big boost with the flurry of energy orders, which in turn took the whole utilities sector up. The biggest gainers were industrials, up over 2%, with stalwarts like 3M, among others, up over 4% on good Q4 reports. There remain worries that the new policies could threaten inflation and delay more rate cuts. Volume came in at 15.42 billion, right in line with the 4-week average of 15.47 billion.
DJ: 43,487.83 +334.70 NAS: 19,630.20
+291.91 S&P: 5,996.66
+59.32 1/17
DJ: 44,025.81 +537.98 NAS: 19,756.78
+126.58 S&P: 6,049.24
+52.58 1/21
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