S&P 500 and Nasdaq rally to record highs on optimism about trade deals
The White House's deal with the European Union would include a broad tariff of 15% on EU goods imported into the U.S., two diplomats said. The rate, which could also extend to cars, would mirror the framework agreement the U.S. has struck with Japan.
The benchmark S&P 500 has now climbed about 8% in 2025, while the Nasdaq has gained almost 9%.
"The key thing is the markets have confidence that the White House is going to continue to work through these trade deals," said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report.
Shares of GE Vernova (GEV.N), opens new tab surged to 14.6% an all-time high after the power equipment maker raised its revenue and free cash flow forecasts and beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit. GE Vernova has gained over 80% so far in 2025, with power consumption on track to hit due to growing demand from AI and cryptocurrency data centers.
Heavyweight AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab climbed 2.25% and fueled gains in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab edged up 0.14% ahead of its quarterly report due after the closing bell. Investors will focus on the electric vehicle maker's analyst conference call. They have braced for Tesla to report a steep drop in revenue related to mounting competition, a lack of new car models and a consumer backlash against CEO Elon Musk.
"What you will hear is an awful lot of discussion about the future and a broad acknowledgement that this was a terrible quarter," said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia.
Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab dipped 0.58%, with the Google parent also set to report results after the close of trading.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.78% to end the session at 6,358.91 points.
The Nasdaq gained 0.61% to 21,020.02 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.14% to 45,010.29 points, just short of its December 4 record high close.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 19.1 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 17.7 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Wall Street's "fear gauge", the CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX), opens new tab, dipped to its lowest level in over five months.
Analysts on average expect S&P 500 companies to report a 7.5% increase in earnings for the second quarter, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Nvidia and other technology heavyweights that have seen their valuations soar due to their leadership in AI are expected to drive much of that quarterly earnings growth.
Medical equipment maker Thermo Fisher (TMO.N), opens new tab surged over 9% after beating Wall Street's estimates for second-quarter profit and revenue.
Texas Instruments (TXN.O), opens new tab tumbled 13% after its quarterly profit forecast pointed to weaker-than-expected demand for its analog chips and underscored tariff-related uncertainty.
Texas Instruments' report weighed on other analog chipmakers, with NXP Semiconductors (NXPI.O), opens new tab, Analog Devices (ADI.O), opens new tab and ON Semiconductor (ON.O), opens new tab losing between 1% and 4.6%.
In economic data, U.S. existing home sales fell more than expected in June. Focus now shifts to Thursday's weekly jobless claims numbers and S&P Global's flash PMI data to gauge economic health in the wake of tariff uncertainties.
Following a mixed set of economic data last week, traders have ruled out an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week. Odds for a September reduction stand at about 58%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX), opens new tab by a 2.1-to-one ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 50 new highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 96 new highs and 20 new lows.
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The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Elon Musk opened a diner in Hollywood. What could go wrong? I went to find out
It was just before lunchtime on its third day of operation, and the line outside Elon Musk's new Tesla Diner in Hollywood already stretched to nearly 100 people. The restaurant has been billed as a 'retro-futuristic' drive-in where you can grab a high-end burger and watch classic films on giant screens, all while charging your Tesla. After months of buildup and controversy, the diner had suddenly opened on Monday, at 4.20pm, the kind of stoner boy joke that Musk is well-known for. Hundreds of fans lined up to try burgers in Cybertruck-shaped boxes, or take photos of the Optimus robot serving popcorn on the roof deck of the gleaming circular diner. But that was for the grand opening. Less than 48 hours later, when we visited for lunch, the Tesla Diner experience was less a futuristic fantasy than a case study in how to fail with impunity. Many parts of the experience were breaking down, the food was mediocre, yet the fans were still cheerfully lining up to buy merch. The line to get into the diner on Wednesday morning was so long, an employee told us, in part because of technical problems. The app that allowed Tesla drivers to order from their cars was glitching, so the diner was 'prioritizing' Tesla owners who had to come inside to order instead. This meant that non-Tesla owners in the walk-up line might need to wait as long as two to three hours before we got our food. I expected at least a few people to leave the walk-up line immediately, but the only ones who did were two families of Tesla owners who went back to order from within their cars. Even if the app didn't work for them, they would still get their food faster. The hierarchy was clear: things were broken for everyone, but owners of Musk products had to suffer slightly less. The rest of us kept waiting in the hot sun. 'Retro-futurism', in this case, seemed to mean gorgeous, Tesla-inspired, mid-century modern architecture coupled with wait times that would shutter an ordinary McDonald's. An episode of Star Trek was playing on the giant drive-in movie screens, but the best entertainment available was watching tricked-out Cybertrucks arrive and depart. I counted at least six when I arrived, and more kept appearing: a neon orange Cybertruck with Texas plates, another floating on giant custom rims. I did not spot a single anti-Musk protester, though social media posts were advertising protests outside the diner later in the week. Musk's special projects have often unfolded with a degree of chaos. Most recently, his attempt to dismantle the large parts of the US government ended with him feuding with the president he had spent nearly $300m to elect. Serving high-end burgers to Tesla fans while they charge their electric cars should be much easier than launching space rockets, developing brain implants or running a social media platform that is not overrun with hate speech and harassment. And Musk's diner operation partners, the Los Angeles chef Eric Greenspan, who advised Mr Beast Burger, and restaurateur Bill Chait, of République and Tartine Bakery, have impressive food industry credentials. But the billionaire CEO tends to make big promises and not quite fulfill them. That appeared to be true even for a tiny burger joint. You don't have to own a Tesla to order a meal at the diner, and its appeal clearly reached far beyond Tesla drivers. There were many people in the walk-up line on Wednesday with babies and small children, some of whom were particularly excited to be visiting the Tesla Diner after seeing videos about it online. While we all waited and waited, employees in branded T-shirts brought us glasses of water and paper menus. Jake Hook, who runs a Los Angeles-focused 'Diner Theory' social media account, had described the Tesla Diner menu to me as 'all over the place', with a combination of 'very fast food shlocky' items combined with sandwiches made with 'bread from Tartine', the luxury California bakery. The diner also offers a mix of 'own the libs' and 'we are the libs' options: on the one hand, 'Epic Bacon', four strips of bacon are served with sauces as a meatfluencer alternative to french fries, and on the other, avocado toast and matcha lattes. There was a kale salad served in a cardboard Cybertruck: welcome to southern California. 'Diners are kind of a reflection of the community, and it doesn't seem to really be that,' Hook told me over the phone. 'It's like a diner-themed restaurant.' An employee gave the Wednesday walk-up line another update: they didn't have chicken, waffles or milkshakes, or any of the 'charged sodas', which came with boba and maraschino cherries and extra caffeine. 'It gets better and better,' sighed a man behind me. Josh Bates and his son Phoenix were in town for the day from Orange county, where they lived. 'We are big Musk fans,' he said. Phoenix, age 10, had been excited to visit the diner. 'I never seen Elon Musk open a restaurant, so I just wanted to come here and see how the food is,' he explained. But after waiting in line for 20 minutes and not getting much closer to ordering, Bates decided it was time to find somewhere else for lunch. 'It's the grand opening – things happen,' the father said. 'It is what it is. They're doing the best they can.' Bates wasn't the only Musk fan with this attitude. Ivan Daza, 36, who lived in Los Angeles, later told me that he had waited two hours the day before, only to be told around 6 or 7pm that the Tesla Diner's kitchen was closed. He had brought his eight-year-old daughter back the next day to try again. She had seen the Tesla Diner on YouTube and was especially excited to see the Optimus robot. But it turned out that Optimus was not in operation. Daza said he was surprised by the various problems the kitchen seemed to be having – he thought they would have a 'plan B'. But he was pleased the diner offered an 'experience'. The prices, though expensive, weren't that bad for Los Angeles. The burger was $13.50, without french fries. Later, as Daza ate the meal that had taken him two days to get, he grinned: 'Delicious.' The interior design was certainly closer to Disneyland than In-N-Out: all sleek and shining chrome, futuristic 1950s white chairs and tables, and beautifully designed lighting. The curved staircase up to the Skypad was decorated with robots in display cases on the wall. Inside a curved chrome window was what looked like a pretty ordinary, low-tech restaurant kitchen. I had waited in line for a full hour before I could place my order. When I finally got to the register, I asked an employee to remind me what on the menu was actually available. She said I needed to check the screen in front of me – they had whatever was there. It turned out, contrary to what I had been told, that I could order both chicken and waffles. After the long wait outside, my food arrived in about 10 minutes – much less than the three-hour wait I feared, but absurdly long for any fast-casual restaurant. A waffle, branded with the Tesla lightning bolt, was cold. The fried chicken had a tasty coating but was also cold. The heap of kale and tomatoes was only partially dressed with an odd dill-flavored dressing. The generic-brand cola tasted cheap and was served with a woke bamboo straw. But the food did come in elaborate Cybertruck boxes – and they were, to be honest, delightful. While locals seemed to be forgiving of the new diner's glitches, some tourists were less impressed. Rick Yin, 32, who was visiting Los Angeles from China with his mother, had stopped by the diner on their way to the airport to 'grab a quick lunch' that had turned out not to be quick at all. Yin had also been excited to see the Optimus robot in action, and had hoped the diner would be 'more hi-tech'. What he had found was 'a regular restaurant'. 'It's all right,' he said, while still waiting for his food. After eating, he said he liked the Cybertruck boxes: 'That's the only thing that's worth it.' I took my meal upstairs , to the Skypad, an open-air balcony with a view of the charging Teslas. The Twilight Zone was now playing on two giant screens. I sat down next to a steady line of people buying Tesla Diner merch: a $95 retro diner hoodie, $65 Tesla salt and pepper shakers, a $175 'levitating Cybertruck' figurine. There was a large popcorn machine in front of me, which seemed to be where Optimus had been serving snacks on opening night. Musk had been posting on X earlier in the morning that 'Optimus will bring the food to your car next year' and suggesting the robot might be dressed in a 'cute' retro outfit. In reality, Optimus was nowhere in sight. The robot was 'out today', an employee told me later, as if the pricey piece of machinery were a human celebrity with a busy schedule. 'Maybe tomorrow.' 'Is it possible to get some popcorn regardless of the robot?' a woman asked. 'It's probably old popcorn,' an employee told her regretfully. A different employee warned me that I could not walk down the same staircase I had taken up to the Skypad because it was too crowded and that 'everyone's colliding with each other and trays and milkshakes'. I would have to go down another way: a bland flight of stairs without any hi-tech decoration. During a Tesla earnings call on Wednesday, as the company disclosed declining revenue and profits, Musk highlighted his new burger palace as a success: 'Diners don't typically get headline news around Earth,' he bragged. He also called the diner 'a shiny beacon of hope in an otherwise sort-of bleak urban landscape'. (It is located on Santa Monica Boulevard, in a neighborhood full of high-end art galleries.) I'd had plenty of time in the diner line to think about 'retro-futuristic' experiences, and how good a description that was, not so much for this very ordinary diner, but for the rightwing political project that Musk had joined. We were now moving into a future that offered tank-like electric cars and on-demand drone deliveries, and also a resurgence of measles outbreaks and women dying from preventable pregnancy-related complications. But continuing to function in the United States right now requires being very good at compartmentalization. I tucked away the cardboard Cybertruck lids to show my co-workers, threw away the Tesla waffles, and went on with my day. Nothing works properly here any more, but hey, it's an experience.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
Why di demand for matcha tea dey dry up global supply
Matcha mania dey sweep di world. Dem fit see di bright green Japanese tea in everytin from Starbucks' lattes for UK to Krispy Kreme doughnuts for Singapore. Social media dey drive di global craze for matcha, as influencers dey share brewing tips, reviews and recipes. Di "Matcha Tok" hashtag don get up to tens of millions of views. Matcha growing popularity also dey linked to Japan post-pandemic tourism boom, as di kontri weak currency dey make am attractive destination as well as boosting demand for Japanese goods. For di middle of di hype, demand for di powder dey rise. US-based tea importer Lauren Purvis tell BBC say her customers dey see once as month supply of matcha running out in days. "Some cafes even dey ask for one kilo per day. Dem dey desperate to keep up," Ms Purvis, wey dey run Mizuba Tea Co tok. But di high demand, combined wit smaller tea crops sake of heatwaves and US tariffs on Japan, also dey push up matcha prices. Traditionally, Matcha - wey pipo dey use sake of im health benefits, caffeine and flavour - na di product of one centuries-old and highly-specialised process. Dem dey make am from green tea leaves called na tencha, wey dem dey keep under shade for weeks as dem still dey grow. Dis step dey very important for developing di tea signature "umami" flavour - one ogbonge taste wey complement dia natural sweetness. Dem go harvest di leaves, dem go use stone mills dry and ground dem into powder, wey fit produce just 40g (1.4oz) of matcha one hour. But in recent months growers dey struggle, as record-breaking heatwaves dey affect crops. For di Kyoto region, wia about one quarter of Japan tencha come from, hot weather don lead to poor harvests even as demand increase. Di kontri also dey face shortage of farmers as dia population dey old and younger pipo wey dey go di industry no plenty. Shops for Uji, one city for Kyoto famous for matcha, dey always see dia shelves go empty as tourists dey enta to buy once dem open dia doors. Sake of day, many retailers don set limits on how much customers fit buy. Kyoto-based Camellia Tea Ceremony dey allow customers buy only one tin of matcha each as visitor numbers doubled ova di last year, director Atsuko Mori tok. Tea master Rie Takeda also tok say she gatz closely monitor her stocks of matcha, as orders wey go bifor arrive in just days now dey take more dan one week. She dey work for Chazen, one tea ceremony chain for Tokyo, wey dey host traditional rituals serving matcha to guests. Shortages mean tea prices for Chazen outlets don rise by around 30% dis year. "[Di demand] dey good," Ms Takeda tok through one translator. "Na gateway for more pipo to sabi about Japanese culture." E also don attract more growers. Matcha production nearly triple between 2010 and 2023, according to Japan agricultural ministry. Dem also tok say green tea exports, including matcha, also rise 25% last year to 36.4bn yen (£180m; $250m). Savour, not hoard Di craze for matcha craze don spark one movement to promote more mindful consumption. Advocates don call out pipo wey dem see say dey hoard matcha or dey profit from dia popularity. Odas don ask tea drinkers to dey careful about how much dem dey use, and to savour matcha for dia purest form instead of as ingredient in recipes. E dey "a bit sad" to see how pipo dey use high-grade matcha to cook – as dia delicate flavour often no dey show - or stockpiled for resale, Ms Mori tok "Matcha na di highest grade of tea and e dey so special to us. So a bit of a contradiction dey wen I hear stories about how dem dey resell am or use am for food." Di Global Japanese Tea Association dey encourage pipo to use lower grade matcha from later harvests, wey plenty and good for cooking. High-grade matcha dey often lose dia delicate flavour wen dem use am in drinks like lattes, dem add. "Promoting awareness of these distinctions dey help ensure say Japanese tea dey enjoyed wit respect, while supporting di craft and tradition behind am," di association tok. Dem also say di prices of matcha dey likely to rise further sake of tariffs US dey impose on Japan. On Tuesday, Washington and Tokyo bin announce one trade deal wey go mean a 15% import tax on Japanese products wey dey enta US. Matcha distributors like Ms Purvis dey ready for di impact. Di Oregon-based entrepreneur say orders go up by more dan 70% for early July ahead of one deadline for di two kontris to reach trade agreement. "As dem no dey grow Japanese tea for US, no American industry dey under threat wey tariffs need to protect," she tok. "We hope say dem go realise say dem need to exempt specialty tea." Even as soaring demand and limited supplies push up prices, some light dey on di horizon. At least one matcha cafe chain dey reason say prices go come down in di future - although not for a while. "Pipo dey buy am well-well at di demand and di demand dey grow rapidly, but we think say e go calm down a bit in two to three years."
Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Maga's plot to restore Cold War era patriotism to ‘woke' Hollywood
In her 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand expounds her individualist philosophy by portraying a dystopian society in which titans of industry fight back against burdensome bureaucracy. Though widely panned by critics, the book has remained a cult favourite of the libertarian Right. Paul Ryan, the former Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, gave out copies to staff members as Christmas presents. Donald Trump, not widely known as a reader, has named Rand as his favourite author. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that an adaptation of Atlas Shrugged is among a handful of projects proposed by Founders Films, a new Right-wing production company aimed at restoring patriotism to Hollywood. The planned venture, which is being pitched to potential investors, comes amid a broader shift to the Right across the US media industry as the return of Trumpian politics triggers a war on 'woke'. '[Founders Films] goes against everything that we know about Hollywood, which is that traditionally it is quite Left-liberal, it is quite compassionate, it is rarely associated with blood and thunder narratives,' says media analyst Alex DeGroote. 'It's a real punch in the face for woke.' Founders Films is being launched by a handful of figures linked to the Silicon Valley data giant Palantir, including chief technology officer Shyam Sankar, early employee Ryan Podolsky and investor Christian Garrett. The company's name is a play on Founders Fund, the tech-focused venture capital fund launched by Palantir founder Peter Thiel. Documents seen by the US news website Semafor outline the tech executives' vision for the project, with the ethos described as: 'Say yes to projects about American exceptionalism, name America's enemies, back artists unconditionally, take risk on novel IP [intellectual property].' In a post on Substack late last year, Sankar wrote nostalgically about all-American blockbusters of yesteryear including Red Dawn, Top Gun, Rocky IV, and The Hunt for Red October. He argued that the US had lost the ability to leverage its film industry as soft power and called for the resurrection of the 'American Cinematic Universe' largely, it seems, by portraying Chinese communists as baddies on screen. 'Breaking out of our cultural malaise will require the studios to wake up and choose America,' he added. Cultural warfare In many ways, it is a rekindling of cinema as cultural warfare in a way not seen since the Cold War. Alongside Atlas Shrugged, other slated projects include films about the evacuation of the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the assassination of Iran's Gen Qasem Soleimani, as well as The Greatest Game, a thriller spy series that 'lays bare China's plans to replace the United States as the dominant global power'. Sankar points to examples of Chinese-ordered censorship and the fact that Disney's Mulan was filmed in Xinjiang as evidence of Beijing's growing sway over Hollywood. 'The statement is that Hollywood's been captured by a foreign adversary and there's some good evidence there,' says Dr Dominic Lees, associate professor of film-making at Reading University. Another strain of the Founders Films philosophy is rooted in the culture wars. The new studio wants to bring an injection of unashamedly conservative thinking to an industry that has long been dominated by liberals. 'What they are taking a punt on is that there is a movie-going market for films that counter what they're calling a Left-wing agenda,' adds Lees. It builds on growing criticism of Hollywood from the Right, with criticism levelled at studios for introducing heavy-handed progressive politics into films or removing anything deemed offensive. Disney has found itself at the centre of this controversy, with critics blaming the House of Mouse's political leanings for a string of recent flops, including this year's live-action reboot of Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler. Disney itself has admitted that there might be a potential 'misalignment' between the films it is making and what consumers want after splurging almost $1bn (£740m) on a string of box office failures in 2023, while boss Bob Iger has outlined plans to cut the studio's output and refocus on quality. Meanwhile, Gina Carano, the actress who was dropped from Star Wars series The Mandalorian in 2021 over her political posts on social media, is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for wrongful termination and discrimination in a lawsuit backed by Elon Musk. Carano was sacked for a post on Instagram that equated the persecution of Jews by the Nazis to the persecution of Republicans in the US. Tinsel Town takeover There are already signs that conservative ideology is gaining commercial traction in Hollywood. Am I Racist?, a Borat-style mockumentary lampooning the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement, became the highest-grossing documentary of 2024 after pulling in more than $12m at the box office on a budget of just $3m. Reagan, a biopic starring Dennis Quaid as the former US president, grossed $30m last year despite scathing reviews from critics. The streaming era has also opened up an opportunity for what once would have been niche sub-genres to break out and find their audience. Christian cinema, for example, has made something of a resurgence at the US box office in recent years thanks to hits such as The King of Kings and The Chosen, a multi-series drama about the life of Jesus. In one week earlier this year, three of the top 10 US box office spots were faith-based titles. Tinsel Town's rightward shift is just one part of a broader assault on the US media heralded by Trump, who earlier this year appointed Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as 'special ambassadors' to Hollywood, tasked with reversing what he deems to have been a period of decline. Meanwhile, controversy is growing around an $8bn takeover of Hollywood giant Paramount by Skydance, the US media group run by David Ellison, which was approved this week. Paramount's recent decision to reach a $16m settlement with Trump for a lawsuit filed against its broadcaster CBS has been widely condemned as an effort to make concessions to the president. This disquiet was fuelled by CBS's shock decision last week to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, just days after the long-serving host branded the settlement a 'big, fat bribe'. Trump has since poured more fuel on the fire after claiming Skydance had promised to give him $20m worth of free advertising and programming in a side deal. Democrat senators have opened an investigation into potential corruption. The president's sway over the Paramount deal suggests he could exert pressure over the studio's output too. It is fuelling concerns about the threat to freedom of expression across the Atlantic. DeGroote describes Trump as 'lacerating the bit of the media universe which he doesn't like', adding: 'It's a dual pincer movement. You're going after the politicians, but you're also going after the media platforms.' Patrick Spence, the TV producer behind Mr Bates vs The Post Office and The Hack, an upcoming drama about the phone hacking scandal, says: 'It feels like we're living in a Batman movie because the villains are so cartoon-like. But the trouble is it's real. It's actually happening in front of us.' Ultimately, however, a Right-wing takeover of Hollywood will depend on making hits. Lees casts doubt on whether the gun-toting style of propaganda film-making proposed by Founders Films will be effective. 'My sense is that these guys at the moment are not very culturally sophisticated,' Lees says. 'If they want to really make an impact it's going to be how they subvert the different existing genres.'
