U.S. stocks turned mostly higher by midday as investors shifted focus from President Donald Trump‘s tariffs to corporate news.
MP Materials shares soared after the company said the Department of Defense became its largest shareholder, and Delta Air Lines rallied and lifted the airline sector after the company said bookings had stabilized. Delta also said premium ticket revenue rose 5% year over year and loyalty program revenue grew 8%.
At 12:23 p.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow added 0.49%, or 218.82 points, to 44,677.12; the broad S&P 500 gained 0.18%, or 11.42 points, to 6,274.68; but the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 0.06%, or 12.58 points, to 20,598.76, after reaching a new record high early. The benchmark 10-year yield rose to 4.368% as consistently solid economic data continues to push out hopes for a rate cut.
Earlier, Trump slapped a 50% tariff on Brazil, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country would respond. Trump also said his 50% tariff on copper imports would begin on Aug. 1.
The levy on Brazil comes after Trump sent letters with new U.S. rates on the imports of at least seven additional countries. Earlier this week, he sent letters to 14 other countries, including Japan and South Korea. These tariffs would go into effect Aug. 1 if the countries do not agree to a trade deal.
The European Union expects to reach an outline trade agreement with the U.S. this week.
Stocks closed higher on July 9, with the Nasdaq reaching a record high as Nvidia briefly reached a $4 trillion valuation, helping to renew appetite for artificial intelligence stocks. The Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes also fueled hopes that inflation pressures from tariffs would not derail interest rate cuts this year. The minutes showed most Fed members expected price increases from tariffs to be “temporary or modest” but were split on when they could lower rates again.
Jobless claims data for the week ending July 5 unexpectedly fell. Jobless claims totaled a seasonally adjusted 227,000, down 5,000 from the previous period and below the Dow Jones estimate for 235,000. However, continuing claims increased to 1.96 million, up 10,000 to the highest level since Nov. 13, 2021. Continuing claims are an indicator of how long people have been jobless.
“The labor market may not necessarily be robust, but it’s not showing signs of falling apart either,” said trading and investment platform eToro’s U.S. Investment Analyst Bret Kenwell.
As long as the economy holds up, the Fed’s been willing to wait to see how tariffs shape up and affect inflation and the economy.
Donald Trump Jr. purchased 350,000 shares in social media company Thumzup Media Corp for more than $4 million. Thumzp Media recently adopted a bitcoin treasury strategy and now holds more than $2 million worth of bitcoin.
Separately, Apple has approved the first iOS game allowing players to spend small amounts of bitcoin for in-game extras. Payments go through ZBD’s technology, which handles fast, low-cost payments without leaving the app.
Bitcoin was last up 0.51% a $111,844.60, but down from its record high of $112,000 on July 9.
(This story was updated with new information.)
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.