NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening higher ahead of an expected announcement on tariffs by President Donald Trump, as big companies keep reporting bigger profits than expected. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% in early trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 76 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.5%. Cisco Systems rose after the tech giant reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts had forecast. GE Healthcare Technologies, Molson Coors Beverage, and Robinhood Markets also rose. The government reported that fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal of a firm job market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Markets on Wall Street were largely unchanged early Thursday, shifting between small losses and gains as more corporate earnings streamed in ahead of the latest labor market data.
Futures for the S&P 500 were down less than 0.1%, while futures for the Dow Jones industrials and Nasdaq were effectively flat.
Deere & Co., the farm equipment manufacturer, tumbled 5.2% after it reported a 30% decline in fourth-quarter sales and a 50% drop in profit. The company said it was focused on reducing inventory amidst the “uncertain market conditions” its customers were facing.
Cisco Systems rose 6.4% after the maker of networking equipment beat Wall Street's sales and profit targets as customers loaded up on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Reddit, the online message board, dove 12% even as it handily outdistanced Wall Street's fourth quarter sales and profit targets. The San Francisco company still lost nearly half a billion dollars in 2024.
Later Thursday, the U.S. government reports on how many Americans filed for unemployment benefits, which is used to track layoffs.
Some European markets were sharply higher at midday after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start talks about ending the war in Ukraine. France's CAC 40 added 1.3%, while Germany's DAX jumped 1.6%. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.6%.
The possibility that Trump may pause some of the tariffs he recently announced was a cause for optimism in Asian markets.
The upswing came despite a decline on Wall Street on Wednesday after a report showed inflation is worsening for Americans.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3% to finish at 39,461.47. Australia's S&P/ASX200 added nearly 0.1% to 8,540.00. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.4% to 2,583.17. The Hang Seng lost earlier gains to drop 0.2% to 21,814.37, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.4% to 3,332.48.
Oil prices continued an overnight decline that came after Trump said he had agreed with Russia’s president to begin “negotiations” on ending the war in Ukraine. Such a move could free up the global movement of crude.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell $1 to $70.37 a barrel. Brent crude declined 99 cents to $74.19.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 153.94 Japanese yen from 154.31 yen. The euro cost $1.0394, up from $1.0386.
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Yuri Kageyama And Matt Ott, The Associated Press
