Skip to content
Home
Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq edge higher as Nvidia’s market cap hits $4T, Trump unveils more tariff letters
- Starbucks (SBUX) stock jumped as much as 2% at the market open Wednesday after a report from CNBC suggested that the company has had multiple offers for its China business, including the likes of Centurium Capital, Hillhouse Capital, and US private equity firm Carlyle Group.
- “We see significant long-term potential in China and are evaluating the best ways to capture the future growth opportunities,” a Starbucks spokesperson told Yahoo Finance. “We are looking for a strategic partner with like-minded values … and want to retain a meaningful stake in the business.”
- The business there has struggled to compete with top rival Luckin Coffee’s low-price model. It has a store base of more than 20,000 stores, compared to Starbucks’ nearly 8,000 stores in the region.
- Starbucks China’s same-store sales growth fell as much as 14% in both the third and fourth quarters last year before rebounding to flat in the latest quarterly results, thanks to a 4% increase in transactions that was offset by a 4% decline in the average ticket size.
- A source told Yahoo Finance that lower prices announced last month have boosted sales in the afternoon and evening there, and zero-sugar options have increased the frequency of visits among customers. Analysts expect same-store sales to increase 2.49% for Starbucks China in its next quarterly report, per Bloomberg consensus estimates.
- Shares are up more than 5% year to date, trailing slightly behind the 6% gain from the S&P 500 (^GSPC).
- M&A dealmaking is beginning to rebound, and deals linked to artificial intelligence are leading the way.
- CoreWeave’s (CRWV) planned acquisition of data center infrastructure provider Core Scientific (CORZ) marked the latest big-ticket AI M&A announcement this year as large companies with room on their balance sheets look to make a splash in a burgeoning industry.
- Yahoo Finance’s Jake Conley reports:
- Read more here.
- US copper (HG=F) prices retreated 3% Wednesday, backing off fresh records touched in the prior session as the market grappled with President Trump’s threat to put a 50% tariff on imports of the metal.
- Copper imports have soared in recent weeks as the industry anticipated tariffs on imports. Industry insiders say the US currently brings in 50% of the copper it needs from abroad. Tariffs on those imports would considerably increase prices across an array of industries which utilize the metal — from data centers, to electrical grids to autos.
- Nvidia (NVDA) stock gained more than an intraday record high on Wednesday, becoming the first company to ever hit a market cap of $4 trillion.
- The AI chipmaker’s valuation has now surpassed Apple’s (AAPL) record market cap of $3.91 trillion reached in December 2024.
- At roughly 9:40 a.m. ET, Nvidia shares hovered near a record of $164, building on its closing high of $160 in the prior session.
- US stocks nudged higher on Wednesday as investors awaited more details on President Trump’s latest tariff announcements, including the possibility of 50% levies on copper imports.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) opened 0.4% higher, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) also gained about 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) edged higher after a downbeat day for the major gauges.
- Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) were set to hit a new all-time record, inching closer toward a $4 trillion market cap.
- The S&P 500 and Dow were on pace to snap a two-day losing streak as markets have remained on edge following the unveiling of letters to US trading partners notifying them of tariffs starting on Aug. 1. Trump has said he will not extend that deadline and countries which have not reached a deal with Washington before that would need to start paying levies on imported goods coming into the US.
- Nvidia (NVDA) stock gained another 0.6% in premarket trading Wednesday, building on its record closing price the prior day of $160.
- Its market capitalization of $3.90 trillion is just shy of Apple’s (AAPL) record market cap of $3.91 trillion reached in December 2024. Today’s moves also put Nvidia ever closer to becoming the first company to have a valuation north of $4 trillion.
- Shares rose on Tuesday, even after the broad indexes dipped and President Trump mentioned that chip tariffs may be in the offing soon. In the past month, Nvidia stock is up nearly 13% as hyperscalers and other customers remain committed to spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
- As Yahoo Finance’s Francisco Velasquez pointed out, Nvidia’s sovereign AI deals offer another reason for bullishness, as analysts estimate they are already contributing billions of dollars in revenue this year.
- “Nvidia has line of sight to tens of gigawatts of sovereign and enterprise AI factory buildouts over the next few years,” Citi analysts Atif Malik and Papa Sylla wrote in a note.
- President Trump’s search for a successor to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is getting louder as candidates try to position themselves as critics of the central bank’s policies.
- Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports:
- Read more here.
- Apple (AAPL) announced on Wednesday that COO Jeff Williams, the company’s No. 2 executive, will be stepping down from his role this month and retiring later this year.
- Sabih Khan will replace Williams as COO, and Apple’s design team will report directly to CEO Tim Cook.
- Apple stock was roughly flat in premarket trading.
- Bloomberg reports:
- Read more here.
- Merck (MRK) has agreed to buy Verona Pharma (VRNA) for about $10 billion, sending the British lung therapy company’s US-listed shares soaring 20% in premarket trade.
- The deal will bolster Merck’s portfolio of respiratory treatments as it looks for revenue drivers beyond its flagship Keytruda treatment.
- Reuters reports:
- Read more here.
- Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading:
- The AES Corporation (AES) stock rose over 11% before the bell on Wednesday following a report that says the company is exploring its options amid takeover interest.
- Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) stock rose 1% after President Trump said he will be putting 50% tariff on copper imports.
- Wolfspeed (WOLF) stock fell 10% in premarket trading after closing 9% up the day before. The semiconductor maker, which recently filed for bankruptcy, appointed Gregor van Issum as chief financial officer, effective Sept. 1.
- WPP (WPP.L, WPP) stock plunged after the advertising giant slashed its annual profit outlook on Wednesday, citing a drop in client spending in June.
- The move spurred concern about WPP’s ability to adapt to an AI-fueled shift in ad technology as economic uncertainty intensifies. US-listed shares in WPP, the world’s second-biggest ad group, sank over 18% in premarket trading. In London, the stock fell to its lowest level in 16 years.
- Reuters reports:
- Read more here.
- A large dose of chaos has been injected into copper markets following President Trump’s threat to impose 50% tariffs on copper imports.
- Copper prices surged on Tuesday and remain near a record. I would keep an eye on top copper stocks such as Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO) today.
- Here are some of Wall Street’s early reactions:
- Goldman Sachs’ Eoin Dinsmore
- “Given the increased risk of a 50% tariff, we expect a further acceleration in shipments into the US in the coming weeks, as the incentive to front-run the tariff implementation has increased. With the Dec-25 COMEX-LME arbitrage now trading at ~$3,000/ton — pricing an implied ~30% tariff — we keep our long Dec-25 COMEX-LME arbitrage trade recommendation open. As we recently highlighted, there was a meaningful risk of a 50% tariff, which is now playing out. In time, the copper tariff may revert to 25%, but steel and aluminium tariff increased to 50% in June, and markets have priced around 80% of those tariffs, factoring in uncertainty on potential future exemptions – which suggests copper should move to price a 40% import tariff in Dec-25.”
- Jefferies’ Christopher LaFemina
- “Trump’s announced 50% tariffs on copper imports came as a surprise in terms of timing and magnitude, but tariffs were likely coming at some point. Higher copper prices in the US should ultimately incentivize growth investment in mines and new smelters/refineries. We believe the longer term aim of the Trump administration may be for the US to be fully self-sufficient in copper, but mines take too long to develop for this to be achieved in less than a 10-year time horizon, in our view. Getting there faster from a smelting/refining perspective is possible and would erode a competitive advantage that China currently has in the copper supply chain. However, as we discuss in this note, the US will still rely on foreign mines to meet demand for the foreseeable future. It is therefore possible that tariffs on refined copper imports will persist for a relatively long duration, which is what we have seen in the US steel industry following the roll-out of section 232 tariffs for steel by President Trump in 2018.”
- Keep an eye on telecom stocks today, after some cautious comments out of KeyBanc.
- T-Mobile US (TMUS) caught most of the ire of analyst Brandon Nispel in a downgrade to underperform.
- “We think underperformance [in the stock] will continue for these reasons: 1) we think TMUS is fiber deficient in a converged/bundled world; 2) we think the near-term macro/competitive environment limits upside to expectations; 3) we think TMUS’s consumer value proposition has deteriorated due to recent pricing actions, which suggest TMUS shouldn’t take outsized share of the industry net adds; and 4) we think TMUS will relatively benefit the least from tax changes due to the One Big Beautiful Bill,” Nispel said.
- Nispel maintained sector-weights on shares of Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile, but voiced concern about rising competitive activity holding back financial results this year.
- Here’s what T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert recently told me on industry phone-plan prices.
- Copper (HG=F) futures pumped over 17% following an announcement from President Trump that he’ll instill a 50% on imports of the metal.
- Bloomberg reports:
- Read more here.
