US: Nasdaq ends at record as stocks shrug off latest Trump tariffs

[NEW YORK] The Nasdaq vaulted to a fresh record on Wednesday, shrugging off new tariff threats from President Donald Trump as Nvidia became the first company to touch US$4 trillion in market valuation.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index ended at 20,611.34, up 0.9 per cent and about 10 points above the prior all-time high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 per cent to 44,458.30, while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.6 per cent to 6,263.26.

The rally came as Trump unveiled a fresh set of letters to seven more countries in the US president’s latest move to reapply pressure to trading partners.

But investors appeared more stirred by Nvidia’s latest surge, which optimism about further growth in artificial intelligence.

The chip company finished up 1.8 per cent, topping US$4 trillion in market value early in the session before somewhat retreating.

Nvidia is a “nice kind of signpost for momentum traders and investors,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “And that just continues to fuel the AI momentum trade too.”

Meanwhile, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed divergent views on cutting interest rates this year, with continued uncertainty about the impact of tariffs on inflation.

While policymakers expected Trump’s tariffs to nudge prices upwards, the June meeting minutes said there remained “considerable uncertainty” on the timing, size and duration of the effects.

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But O’Hare said investors continue to expect Fed interest rate cuts, in part because of the focus on a White House plan to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Trump has criticised.

“Every candidate floated right now seems to be in favor of cutting rates so the market likes the notion that there might be a more market friendly policy regime coming at the Fed,” O’Hare said.

Among individual companies, Merck rose 2.9 per cent after announcing it reached a deal to acquire Verona Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company focused on respiratory diseases for about US$10 billion. Verona jumped 20.6 per cent. AFP