US Stock Markets Today: Wall Street Indices Edge Higher Even As Investors Eye Trump's Tariff Moves

All the three major US stock indices edged higher during the early minutes of trade on Wednesday, despite the jitters over US President Donald Trump sharpening his tariff moves against some of the trading partners.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also climbed 79 points, or 0.2%.

Among the stocks that gained in early trade were Apple Inc., McDonald's Corp. and Walmart Inc. Stocks like Walt Disney Co., Johnson & Johnson and Honeywell International Inc. slipped in the early minutes of trade.

Among the 11 S&P 500 sectoral indices, seven were trading lower, while four traded higher against the previous day's close. The gains were led by real estate, materials and energy.

“There are a lot of narratives to keep track of in today’s investing environment, but earnings remain the main catalyst for stocks,” Bret Kenwell at eToro told Bloomberg.

“While pullbacks are possible — particularly due to macro-related influences and poor seasonality trends — those pullbacks will likely prove to be buying opportunities," Bret Kenwell at eToro said.

As the US market opened, spot gold was trading 0.24% lower at $3,372.41, and Brent crude oil was trading 1.64% higher at $68.75.

The Bloomberg Dollar Index fell 0.3% while the British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3319 while the Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 147.35 per dollar.

Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency rose, 0.2% to $113,892.4.