Markets on Wall Street inched up quietly early Wednesday as President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum were due to kick in and U.S and European trade officials met in Paris to negotiate their tariff spat.
Futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq all rose 0.2% in light trading before the bell.
The European Union's top trade negotiator, Maroš Šefčovič, met Wednesday with his American counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Šefčovič said talks were "advancing in the right direction at pace.” Few expect Brussels and Washington to reach a substantive trade agreement in Paris because the issues dividing them are too difficult to resolve quickly.
There has been no official update on the status of the steel and aluminum tariffs as of early Wednesday morning. Those tariffs are expected to hit a broad range of businesses hard and likely push up prices for consumers.
Foreign-made steel and aluminum is used in household products like soup cans and paper clips as well as big-ticket items like a stainless-steel refrigerators and cars. Economists warn that the latest tariffs will significantly squeeze the wallets of both companies and shoppers alike.
Hopes remain high on Wall Street that Trump will reach trade deals with other countries that will ultimately lower tariffs, particularly with the world’s second-largest economy. The U.S. side said Trump was expecting to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week.
In equities trading, Wells Fargo rose 2.5% after the Federal Reserve lifted its asset cap on Tuesday and said the bank is no longer subject to the harsh restraints placed on it in 2018 for having a toxic sales and banking culture. Wells has spent the better part of a decade trying to restore its image with the public and convince policymakers that it had changed its ways.
Shares of Dollar Tree dipped 1.8% before the bell despite Wednesday's strong first-quarter sales and profit report. Investors were spooked by the discount retailer's forecast, which estimated as much as a 50% drop in second-quarter earnings per share due to cost pressures from higher tariffs. A day earlier, rival Dollar General posted a quarterly sales record of $10.44 billion and upgraded its annual profit and sales outlook as Americans tighten their budgets and spend more at bargain stores.
CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company that Delta Air Lines has sued for a technology outage last summer, fell 7% after it issued lighter second-quarter guidance than analysts were expecting.
Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX and the CAC 40 in Paris each gained 0.7%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.2%.
South Korea's Kospi led gains in Asia, jumping 2.7% to 2,770.84 after the liberal opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung was elected president.
Lee's victory caps months of political turmoil triggered by the stunning but brief imposition of martial law by the now-ousted conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol. Top priorities will include government spending and trade negotiations with the United States.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index surged 0.8% to 37,747.45 on gains for technology and pharmaceutical companies.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s shares rose 1.9% after it announced it was buying Toyota Industries Corp., a maker of auto parts and lift trucks, for $33 billion and taking it private. Toyota Industries' shares tumbled nearly 12%.
Chinese shares were modestly higher. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.6% to 23,654.03, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4% to 3,376.20.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.9% higher at 8,541.80.
Taiwan's Taiex climbed 2.3%.
Treasury yields held relatively steady following Tuesday's encouraging report on the U.S. job market.
It's a cooldown from a sharp rise for yields over the last two months. Yields had been climbing in part on worries about how the U.S. government may be set to add trillions of dollars to its debt through tax cuts.
Higher Treasury yields make it more expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money and can discourage investors from paying high prices for stocks and other investments.
In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil added 3 cent to $63.44 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 5 cents to $65.68 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 144.19 Japanese yen from 144 yen. The euro rose to $1.1386 from $1.1370.