NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street got some relief after an encouraging report said inflation slowed last month by more than expected, and stocks scraped back some of their sharp losses from recent weeks. The S&P 500 was 1% higher in early trading Wednesday, a day after it briefly fell more than 10% below its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 251 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.8% higher. Big Tech led the gains after being crushed by worries their prices had risen too high in recent years. Tesla, whose price had more than halved since mid-December, rose 7%
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs after another day of losses on Wall Street.
U.S. futures and oil prices were higher.
France's CAC 40 edged up 0.9% in early trading to 8,014.58. Germany's DAX jumped 1.5% to 22,644.81, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.5% to 8,542.24. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up nearly 0.1% at 41,510.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.6% to 5,610.00.
Trump's escalation in his trade war is rattling global markets. Trump has upped his tariffs against Canadian steel and aluminum, prompting the Canadian province of Ontario to remove a surcharge that had enraged him.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 finished little changed, gaining less than 0.1% to 36,819.09.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 23,566.42, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.2% to 3,371.92.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.3% to 7,786.20. South Korea's Kospi added 1.5% to 2,574.82.
Stocks drooped on uncertainty about how much pain Trump is willing for the economy to endure in order to get what he wants.
“Trump’s tariff policies continue to have a destabilizing effect on markets, with investors left guessing as to which measures will either be added or walked back next,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
Moves by Trump and comments by the White House on Tuesday didn’t clarify much. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The president will look out for Wall Street and for Main Street.”
The recent swings followed more warning signals flashing about the economy as Trump’s on -and- off -again rollout of tariffs creates confusion and pessimism for U.S. households and businesses.
Such tariffs can hurt the economy directly by raising prices for U.S. consumers and gumming up global trade. But even if they end up being milder than feared, all the whipsaw moves could leave U.S. companies and consumers unwilling to invest or spend.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 34 cents to $66.59 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 31 cents to $69.87 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 148.50 Japanese yen from 147.78 yen. The euro cost $1.0921, inching up from $1.0919.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press