US stocks jumped at the open Wednesday as investors were encouraged by news that the US and China are set to start trade talks this weekend, even as traders awaited the Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day.
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3% by 9:32 a.m. in New York, while the Nasdaq 100 Index advanced 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5% and Russell 2000 Index climbed 0.6%. The main equity benchmark remains close to both its 50 and 200 day moving averages.
Among individual stocks, Walt Disney Co. reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates and raised its full year outlook. Uber Technologies Inc., meanwhile, posted weaker-than-expected gross bookings, stoking concerns about a potential consumer pullback amid souring economic sentiment. Steven Madden Ltd. withdrew its sales and profit outlook for the year, citing trade tensions stemming from US President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariff battle.
WeightWatchers, known for its diet programs once endorsed by celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, filed for bankruptcy after struggling to compete with weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.
On the trade front, China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng is set to travel to Switzerland this weekend for meetings with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
“The meeting is expected to begin to de-escalate the pretensions and eventually lead to trade and tariff negotiations,” said Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at Tigress Financial Partners. “US/China trade negotiation progress will be the market’s momentum driver.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese government also announced broad measures aimed at stabilizing markets, encouraging tech innovation and supporting small businesses.
Still, all eyes will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady, though Bloomberg Economics’ Anna Wong expects Powell to strike a “decisively hawkish tone.”
Data from Bespoke Research showed that even though stocks’ full-day performance on Fed days has been mixed, one thing has been extremely consistent — the trend of late-day selling. The S&P 500 averaged a 0.49% decline in the final hour across the past ten Fed meetings, including a decline in the last hour of the last eight, Bespoke said.
Dennis DeBusschere of 22V Research, however, said the bar seems low for the Fed Chair to appear more dovish than expected.
“Powell just stating the facts on the recent inflation data and repeating over and over that the Fed will react to tariff impacts on inflation and growth as they happen, might be a dovish relief for investors,” DeBusschere said.
Outside US, geopolitics remained tenuous. Pakistan said it reserves the right to retaliate after India launched targeted strikes, signaling a potential further escalation in hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued air strikes against each other’s capitals overnight, including an attack that killed two people in Kyiv.
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