MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks climbed behind gains in semiconductor shares. Bond markets were mixed amid warnings about a potential U.S. economic slowdown. Oil futures posted back-to-back gains on a series of supply risks that offset concerns about OPEC+ plans for higher output. Gold prices fell as the dollar strengthened.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite led major indexes higher, turning positive for the year for the first time since February.

Chip makers were among the biggest gainers. Nvidia and Broadcom both rose more than 2%, putting the latter at a record. Tech and energy were the best-performing sectors of the S&P 500.

Markets have been bolstered by a strong earnings season and a sense among some investors that President Trump's trade policies won't tip the economy into a recession, as many feared a few weeks ago. Pressured by markets, Trump has paused some of his most extreme tariffs. But progress in negotiations with China, Japan and the European Union is hard to discern.

The Dow industrials advanced 0.5% and S&P 500 rose 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.8%.

Earlier Tuesday, Chinese markets posted moderate gains as trade talks with the U.S. continued. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4%. The Shenzhen Composite Index and the ChiNext Price Index both gained 0.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.5%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged 0.1% lower, weighed by pharma and real-estate shares.

Stocks in Australia rose, as the S&P/ASX 200 increased 0.6%, led by gains at Evolution Mining.

New Zealand stocks posted declines, with the S&P/NZX 50 index falling by 0.7%.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures posted back-to-back gains on a series of supply risks that offset concerns about OPEC+ plans for higher output.

"Multiple factors have conspired to push the barrel higher," Mizuho's Robert Yawger said. They include reports that Canadian wildfires have shut in more than 300,000 barrels a day in production, doubts about the U.S. and Iran reaching a nuclear deal, and the possibility of tighter sanctions on Russia.

On the downside is the OECD cutting its global and U.S. economic growth forecasts, and weak manufacturing data out of China, Yawger added.

WTI settled 1.4% higher at $63.41 a barrel and Brent rose 1.5% to $65.63.

Gold futures backtracked after the dollar strengthened.

The front-month contract fell 0.6% to $3,350.20 a troy ounce.

"Gold's near-term outlook remains volatile; future movements will mostly depend on the evolution of US trade policy and signals from the Fed on their path regarding monetary policy," said ADM Investor Services.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Fed's Bostic Sees 1 Rate Cut in 2025. Tariffs Could Derail That.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said Tuesday that he expects one interest rate cut this year, but that growing uncertainty around trade and fiscal policy could complicate his outlook.

"I do still have in mind...one cut for the year. I still think there's space for that" Bostic told reporters during a press call. "A lot of it will depend on how the uncertainty resolves itself."

In a letter published the same day, Bostic, a nonvoting member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year, laid out a cautious view of the economy. He warned that persistent trade tensions and a murky policy landscape are clouding the path ahead. Business leaders, he wrote, are increasingly wary of new investments and many are holding off on hiring.

U.S. to Have Slower Growth, Higher Inflation Due to Tariffs, OECD Says

President Trump's tariff regime threatens to significantly crimp U.S. economic growth this year while boosting inflation, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a new forecast that sharply cut its outlook.

The Paris-based research group said Tuesday it expects U.S. gross domestic product to decelerate sharply to 1.6% in 2025 from 2.8% in 2024. The OECD previously expected U.S. GDP to grow by 2.2% this year, but cut its forecasts due to the effects of Trump's tariffs, retaliation from other countries, uncertainty around economic policy and slower immigration.

The OECD also expects U.S. inflation, as measured by the personal-consumption expenditures price index, to pick up to 3.9% by the end of the year, which the group said could prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting rates again until next year. The index was up 2.1% in April from a year earlier.

Wells Fargo Freed From Asset Cap Imposed After Fake-Accounts Scandal

Federal regulators moved to lift an unprecedented punishment that had handcuffed growth at Wells Fargo, a milestone in the bank's efforts to repair its tarnished reputation after its fake-accounts scandal erupted nearly a decade ago.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors voted to remove the restriction that had capped the bank's assets at around $2 trillion. It was the most severe rebuke handed down after the bank's disclosure it had opened millions of unauthorized customer accounts. The 2018 order had pointed to "widespread consumer abuses and compliance breakdowns."

For the first time in seven years, the fourth-largest U.S. bank will be able to grow its balance sheet and redirect resources it had been pouring into efforts to fix itself. It will once again have the freedom to gather deposits, increase loans to companies and households and grow its Wall Street businesses or even do deals.

HPE Raises Fiscal-Year Profit Forecast on Tariff Exemption

Hewlett Packard Enterprise tightened its full-year outlook, citing improved visibility into market conditions and a stabilizing demand environment.

The business environment has settled, Chief Financial Officer Marie Myers said Tuesday. She said that while macroeconomic uncertainty and trade concerns weighed on demand early in the recent quarter, sentiment has since improved.

Despite the more stable backdrop, the server and cloud-software company lowered the top end of its sales outlook for the year due to the unpredictable nature of artificial-intelligence-related deals. At the same time, the company raised the floor of its profit outlook thanks to a tariff exemption.

Ford Stock Rises After Strong May Sales. The Pain Is Coming.

Shares of Ford Motor rose Tuesday after the company posted strong sales results for May.

Investors, however, will be left wondering if shoppers are rushing to take advantage of incentives and lower prices before midyear, when tariff-induced price increases take effect.

Tuesday morning, Ford reported U.S. vehicle sales of 220,959 units, up 16.3% from a year ago. F-150 sales totaled 79,817 trucks, up almost 15%. Battery electric vehicle sales, including Mustang Mach-Es, totaled 6,726, down 25%, but hybrid sales jumped 29% from a year ago, coming in at 22,719 vehicles.

Expected Major Events for Wednesday

00:30/THA: May Thailand Manufacturing PMI

00:30/JPN: May Japan Services PMI

00:30/HK: May Hong Kong Whole Economy PMI

00:30/SIN: May Singapore Whole Economy PMI

01:30/AUS: 1Q GDP

02:00/AUS: May VFACTS vehicle sales

21:00/SKA: May International Reserves

22:45/NZ: 1Q Value of Building Work Put in Place

23:00/SKA: 1Q Revised GDP / Preliminary Gross National Income

23:30/JPN: Apr Provisional Labour Survey - Earnings, Employment & Hours Worked

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Write to us at singaporeeditors@dowjones.com

We offer an enhanced version of this briefing that is optimized for viewing on mobile devices and sent directly to your email inbox. If you would like to sign up, please go to https://newsplus.wsj.com/subscriptions.

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2025 16:58 ET (20:58 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.