By STAN CHOE
Updated 12:42 PM CDT, April 22, 2025
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NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rallying Tuesday after companies reported fatter profits than expected, and other U.S. investments are also steadying a day after falling sharply on worries about President Donald Trump’s trade war and his attacks on the head of the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 was 1.8% higher in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 726 points, or 1.9%, as of 1:38 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.2% higher. Every major index recovered most of their losses from Monday.
The value of the U.S. dollar also stabilized after sliding against the euro and other competitors, while Treasury yields held steadier. Sharp, unusual moves in those markets have recently raised worries that Trump’s policies are making investors more skeptical that U.S. investments still deserve their reputations as the world’s safest.
A Donald Trump bobblehead sits on the counter as trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Donald Trump bobblehead sits on the counter as trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The only prediction many Wall Street strategists are willing to make is that financial markets will continue to jerk up and down as hopes rise and fall that Trump may negotiate deals with other countries to lower his tariffs. Otherwise, many investors expect the economy to fall into a recession.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its forecast for global economic growth this year to 2.8%, down from 3.3%. But Vice President JD Vance also said he made progress with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, on trade talks Monday.
Some signs of nervousness remain in financial markets. Gold continued to rise, for example, as it holds onto its reputation as a safer investment when fear is dominating markets.
A suite of better-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies, meanwhile, drove U.S. stocks higher.
Equifax jumped 13.7% after reporting better profit for the first three months of 2025 than analysts expected. It also said it would send more cash to its shareholders by increasing its dividend and buying up to $3 billion of its stock over the next four years.
3M climbed 7.5% after the maker of Scotch tape and Command strips said it made more in profit from each $1 of revenue during the start of the year than it expected. The company also stood by its forecast for profit for the full year, though it said tariffs may drag down its earnings per share by up to 40 cents per share.
Homebuilder PulteGroup rose 7.3% after it likewise delivered a stronger profit for the start of 2025 than analysts expected.
It’s been benefiting from the sharp moves in the bond market. The unusual drops for Treasury yields recently are translating into lower rates for mortgages for potential customers. The drops for stock prices that are happening at the same time, though, are likely also scaring potential buyers.
CEO Ryan Marshall said buyers “remain caught between a strong desire for homeownership and the affordability challenges of high selling prices and monthly payments that are stretched.”
Tesla rose 4.1% ahead of its earnings report, which is scheduled to arrive after trading ends for the day. That trimmed its loss for the year so far roughly 41%.
Elon Musk’s electric car company has already reported its first-quarter car sales dropped by 13% from the year before. It’s been hurt by vandalism, widespread protests and calls for a consumer boycott amid a backlash to Musk’s high-profile role in the White House overseeing a cost-cutting purge of U.S. government agencies.
Stocks also showed how Trump’s tariffs could create winners and losers in a remade global economy.
First Solar jumped 9.7% after the U.S. Department of Commerce finalized harsher-than-expected solar tariffs on some southeast Asian communities.
Defense contractors had some of the market’s sharpest losses after RTX said U.S. tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, along with other products, could mean an $850 million hit to its profit this year. RTX, which builds airplane engines and military equipment, fell 10.3% even though it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter.
Kimberly-Clark lost 2.5% even though the maker of Huggies and Kleenex likewise reported a better-than-expected profit.
CEO Mike Hsu said that “the current environment will now mean greater costs across our global supply chain” versus what it expected at the start of the year, and the company lowered its forecast for an underlying measure of profit this year.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.40% from 4.42% late Monday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in modest moves across Europe and Asia. _
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
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