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US Stocks Climb Higher Thursday 01/22 15:22
U.S. stocks rose again Thursday and regained more of their losses for the
week following the latest walk back by President Donald Trump from tariffs he
had earlier threatened.
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks rose again Thursday and regained more of their
losses for the week following the latest walk back by President Donald Trump
from tariffs he had earlier threatened.
The S&P 500 gained 0.5% and added to its big gain from Wednesday, when Trump
said he had reached "the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland"
and called off 10% tariffs for European countries that he said opposed his
having the Arctic island. The index has recovered most of the losses it took
after Trump shook financial markets with his initial tariff threat.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 306 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq
composite rose 0.9%.
It's the latest example of Trump making a big, initial threat, only to pull
back after seeing how much pain it created in financial markets. The pattern
has led to the "TACO" acronym, suggesting that "Trump Always Chickens Out" if
markets react strongly enough. Tuesday's drop for the U.S. stock market was the
worst since October and large enough that Trump, who often takes credit when
Wall Street is doing well, acknowledged "the dip."
But the pattern has also led to deals for Trump that outsiders may have
initially considered unlikely if not for his market-shaking opening moves.
Details are still sparse about the framework of a deal on Greenland that
Trump said he reached with the head of NATO. And it is not a signed deal yet.
Financial markets were still showing some signs of nervousness on Thursday.
Gold's price swiveled between small losses and gains before turning 1.6%
higher. Its price often rises when investors are looking for something safer to
own. The value of the U.S. dollar also weakened against the euro and several
other foreign currencies.
But Treasury yields held relatively steady in a signal that foreign
investors weren't rushing out of the U.S. bond market.
Yields got some support from reports on the U.S. economy's strength that
came in better than expected. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for
unemployment benefits last week than economists expected in a potential signal
that the pace of layoffs remains low. A second suggested the U.S. economy grew
at a faster rate during the summer than the government initially estimated.
A third said that inflation in November was close to economists'
expectations, while spending by U.S. consumers was a touch better than expected.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed as high as 4.28% following the
reports, but it later eased to 4.25% from 4.26% late Wednesday.
On Wall Street, Northern Trust climbed 6% after reporting a stronger profit
for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. CEO Michael O'Grady also said that
the financial services company is entering 2026 with "strong momentum across
all our businesses."
Procter & Gamble added 2.6% after likewise delivering a better profit than
analysts expected. Revenue for the company behind the Downy, Pantene and Tide
brands, though, fell just shy of expectations amid what CEO Shailesh Jejurikar
called a "challenging consumer and geopolitical environment."
Shares of BitGo, a company that helps crypto businesses and traditional
financial firms hold and manage digital assets, rose 2.7% in their debut on the
New York Stock Exchange. The company priced its stock at $18 per share in its
initial public offering, above its earlier estimated range of $15 to $17.
JPMorgan Chase rose 0.5% after a lawsuit filed by Trump against the bank
caused minor ripples for its stock. Trump accused JPMorgan Chase of closing his
accounts for political reasons after he left office in 2021.
They helped offset an 8.1% drop for spice seller McCormick & Co., whose
profit fell short of expectations. CEO Brendan Foley said it continues to face
rising costs because of "a shifting global trade environment."
All told, the S&P 500 rose 37.73 points to 6,913.35. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 306.78 to 49,384.01, and the Nasdaq composite gained
211.20 to 23,436.02.
In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed across Europe and Asia amid relief
on Trump's walk back of tariffs.
Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7%, and Germany's DAX returned 1.2% for two of
the world's bigger moves.
Global markets also got support from a continued easing of long-term yields
in Japan's bond market. They had spiked early in the week on worries that
Japan's popular prime minister could make moves that would add heavily to the
government's already big debt.
But the 40-year Japanese government bond yield has come back since hitting a
record and dropped below 4% on Thursday after hitting 4.22% on Tuesday.
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