Wall Street pares gains at close, Dow extends winning streak

US stocks pared gains at the close on Wednesday, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for a second straight session after President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to negotiate with China and denied any intention to interfere with the Federal Reserve’s independence.

The Dow rose 1.1%, or 419 points, to 39,606 by the end of the session. Likewise, the S&P 500 gained 1.67% to 5,375, and the Nasdaq Composite grew 2.50% to 16,708.

This was supported by positive performance from the technology sector, with Tesla shares jumping 5.33% to $250.67, Apple shares rising 2.38% to $204.22, and Nvidia shares rising 3.67% to $102.52.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated today that the trade standoff with China cannot continue, expecting the situation to calm down soon.

Regarding European markets, the STOXX Europe 600 index added 1.78% to 516 points amid positive performance from technology companies.

The UK's FTSE 100 index increased 0.90% to 8,403 points, the German DAX 3.14% to 21,961 points, and the French CAC 40 2.13% to 7,482 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei index rose 1.9% to 34,868 points after hitting its highest level since April 2 at 35,142 points. The broader Topix index rose more than 2% to close at 2,584 points.

In the oil market, Brent crude futures for June delivery fell 1.95%, or $1.32, to settle at $66.12 a barrel.

US NYMEX crude futures for June delivery, the most active, lost 2.20%, or $1.4, to settle at $62.27 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery fell 3.7% to settle at $3,294.10 an ounce.