Wall street ticks higher as Trump vows ‘comprehensive’ US-UK trade deal – Times of India-OxBig News Network

US stocks opened sharply higher on Thursday morning after President Trump announced a “full and comprehensive” trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, fuelling optimism across global markets and lifting investor sentiment.As of 9:32 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 218.81 points, or 0.53%, to 41,332.78, following the President’s post on Truth Social declaring the deal a major milestone in transatlantic relations. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 190.19 points (+1.07%) to 17,928.35, while the S&P 500 advanced 39.2 points, or 0.7%, to 5,670.48, with gains led by tech and energy stocks.Investor enthusiasm was also bolstered by strength in commodity markets and renewed hopes of progress in US-China trade relations, despite Trump reiterating that he would not reduce the current 145% tariffs on Chinese imports ahead of this weekend’s talks in Geneva.In the commodities space, US crude oil prices rose $1.05 to $59.12 per barrel, a 1.81% increase, reflecting market optimism about improved global trade flows. However, gold fell $25.90 to $3,366, down 0.76%, as risk appetite grew and investors rotated out of safe-haven assets.Meanwhile, US futures rallied on the news. The S&P 500 futures rose 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.5%, driven by gains in Big Tech and semiconductor stocks.European markets also posted sharp gains. France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX each advanced 1.1% by midday, while Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.3%, buoyed by trade deal optimism.Markets were also lifted by news that the US and China planned high-level trade talks in Switzerland over the weekend. Though hopes for progress were high, sentiment cooled slightly after Trump declared he would not roll back the 145% tariffs on Chinese goods as a precondition for talks.Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve, as widely expected, left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.3% for the third consecutive meeting on Wednesday. The central bank acknowledged rising risks of both higher inflation and increasing unemployment—a rare and difficult economic backdrop.Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that ongoing tariffs were weighing on business and consumer confidence, though he stressed that the economy had not yet shown significant damage.“There’s so much that we don’t know,” Powell said, emphasizing the Fed’s data-dependent approach to policy.Despite Trump’s calls for deeper and faster rate cuts to boost economic growth, Powell remained cautious, pointing to the uncertain impact of trade policy as a reason for holding steady.“Trade optimism outweighed yesterday’s Fed hawkishness and helped set a more positive tone for the rest of the week—especially with the US and China preparing to meet in Geneva to discuss their unsustainable tariff situation,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.Asian markets ended the day higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% to close at 36,928.63. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 8,191.70. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,579.48. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.4% to 22,775.92, and the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 3,352.00.In energy markets, US crude rose $1.01 to settle at $59.08 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, added 93 cents to $62.05 per barrel.In currency trading, the US dollar strengthened to 144.75 Japanese yen from 143.76 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1294 from $1.1317.