Wall Street quietly mixed as corporate earnings pour in, offering a respite from tariff anxiety

Early trading on Wall Street was quietly mixed on Wednesday as markets shift their attention toward a deluge of corporate earnings reports while monitoring ever-changing developments on U S contract guidelines Futures for the S P were flat before the bell while futures for the Dow industrials rose Nasdaq futures were down Johnson Johnson rose after the drug and diagnostic device giant beat analysts sales and profit targets and raised its full-year outlook on both J J mentioned it expects game-changing approvals and submissions in the second half of on an array of products in its pipeline Bank of America ticked up less than after it beat Wall Street s second-quarter profit targets The bank s net interest income grew for the fourth straight quarter but came in slightly lower than expectations Goldman Sachs also beat Wall Street s sales and profit targets on a strong performance from its trading division which took advantage of arena volatility triggered by President Donald Trump s on-again-off-again tariff announcements this spring Its shares rose about before markets opened Netherlands-based ASML the world s leading supplier of chipmaking gear reported in its latest earnings summary Wednesday that the impact of Trump s tariffs on its business was less negative than anticipated but its shares tumbled more than after the company mentioned it couldn t guarantee increase next year The company makes equipment used in cutting edge semiconductors and one of its key customers is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co or TSMC a major supplier for Nvidia The level of uncertainty is increasing mostly due to macroeconomic and geopolitical consideration And that includes of unit tariffs CEO Christophe Fouquet commented United Airlines posts its preponderance up-to-date quarterly results after the bell Wednesday Also coming Wednesday is the ruling body s statement on producer prices which measures inflation at the wholesale level A assessment on Tuesday exhibited that consumer inflation in the United States accelerated to last month from in May Economists reported higher prices for clothes toys and other imported goods suggest that Trump s stiffer tariffs are fueling inflation That sticky inflation could mean that the Federal Reserve will hold its ground on interest rates which have remained elevated in up-to-date years after red-hot demand and supply chain breakdowns in the wake of the pandemic sent prices for just about everything skyrocketing Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they juice prices higher for stocks and other investments and Trump himself has been clamoring for the Federal Reserve to cut rates more rapidly But the Fed has been keeping interest rates on hold this year since lower rates can give inflation more fuel while they boost the financial market Fed Chair Jerome Powell has insisted he wants to see more information about how tariffs affect the business sector and inflation Elsewhere in Europe at midday Germany s DAX rose while Britain s FTSE gained The CAC in Paris was unchanged In Asian trading Tokyo s Nikkei edged less than lower to Investors are focusing on the promising impact of an vote for the Upper House of Parliament on Sunday that is expected to lead to tax cuts and higher spending as lawmakers try to restore the waning popularity of the ruling Liberal Democrats Worries over a deterioration in Japan s fiscal wellbeing have pushed yields of long-term Japanese cabinet bonds to their highest levels in years What s at stake isn t entirely which party hands out the biggest bundle of goodies It s whether the walls holding up Japan s house of debt can withstand another round of fiscal fireworks Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management declared in a commentary Elsewhere in Asia Hong Kong s Hang Seng shed to while the Shanghai Composite index slipped less than to South Korea s Kospi lost to and in Australia the S P ASX declined to Taiwan s Taiex jumped and India s Sensex added Thailand s SET dropped In Jakarta shares rose after President Donald Trump reported on Truth Social that he plans to charge imports from Indonesia a tariff of while American goods sent to the Southeast Asian country will face no tariffs Trump also mentioned Indonesia committed to buying U S potential agricultural products and aircraft Indonesia s central bank cut its key interest rate by percentage points on Wednesday to We have calculated everything and discussed everything The greater part fundamental thing for me is my people as I must protect the interests of our workers Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto notified reporters adding that this is our offer and we are not able to give more to the U S In force trading U S benchmark crude oil shed cents to per barrel Brent crude the international standard slipped cents at per barrel The dollar fell to Japanese yen from yen The euro was steady at Source