Stocks trim gains as China signals readiness for trade talks
Stocks trimmed gains, led by global chip makers, to see the U.S. stock market opened on Wednesday, April 16.
Although the likes of Nvidia were slightly up as investors reacted to news China had indicated its readiness to engage the United States amid ongoing tariffs war, earlier losses impacted greater sentiment and contributed to the major indices opening lower.
Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron Technology (MU), and ASML Holding (ASML) all fell sharply in premarket trading. The stocks flipped green ahead of Wall Street’s open, but the cautious sentiment lingered after the bell as Washington’s ramped-up tariffs on China imposed further jitters.
In particular, the latest move to curb exports of an artificial intelligence chip Nvidia makes for the Chinese market contributed to the earlier rout, with global chip makers AMD and ASML also feeling the pressure.
Nvidia’s warning regarding a $5.5 billion quarterly charge amid the AI chip curbs saw NVDA stock dip 6%. AMD, ASML, and other chip stocks also recorded notable losses.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped by 1.2% and 2.1%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened about 0.6% lower.
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Optimism remains tempered but investors appear to be seeing an imminent thaw in the China vs. U.S. tariffs arena. Despite President Donald Trump’s administration noting China faced up to 245% in tariffs amid the recent standoff and retaliatory moves, Beijing has signalled it may be willing to come to the table.
However, China says this readiness for trade talks comes with demands of “respect” from U.S. counterparts.
While this course of events might see a slight uptick in investor sentiment, stocks are largely unmoved. Crypto also notched a slight dip as the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and DJIA all opened lower on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, retail sales rose 1.4% in March, aligning with consensus estimates. With recent positive inflation readings doing little to lift markets, the focus remains on what this means for the overall U.S. economic outlook before the reciprocal tariffs kicked in on “Liberation Day.”
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