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By STAN CHOE
October 16, 2025 — 7.05am
U.S. stocks have risen following another topsy-turvy day for Wall Street, as investors struggled to gauge the scope of resurgent trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent, but only after jumping toward one of its biggest gains since the summer, erasing it all and then climbing back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 30 points, or 0.1 per cent, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8 per cent higher. It pinballed earlier between a drop of 0.4 per cent and a rally of 1.4 per cent.
Futures are pointing to the ASX opening 4 points of 0.04 per cent lower on Thursday, after the market rose 1 per cent on Wednesday, helped by a rally in mining and banking shares. The Australian dollar was trading at US65.08¢ at 6.45am AEDT.
The erratic trading in the U.S. overnight followed Tuesday’s roller coaster, where the Dow careened between a loss of 615 points and a jump of 455. The dizzying moves go back to the end of last week, when President Donald Trump shattered what had been a remarkably calm and strong run for Wall Street by threatening much higher tariffs on China.
Wall Street had another choppy session.Credit: Bloomberg
Technology stocks helped lead the way on Wednesday following a better-than-expected profit report from ASML, a major supplier to the semiconductor industry. It expects its revenue for 2025 to be 15 per cent above last year’s, while next year’s should be at least as high as this year’s.
Macquarie Asset Management, which manages assets owned by big investors, sold an AI investment company called Aligned Data Centers to investors including BlackRock, Microsoft and Nvidia for $US40 billion ($61.4 billion). Aligned, which is based in Texas and operates throughout the US and South America, has 50 campuses and 78 data centres under management or in future development, according to its website.
“On the market side, we have seen continued positive momentum around investments in AI,” CEO Christophe Fouquet said, “and have also seen this extending to more customers.” That’s key when worries have been high that a bubble may be forming in artificial-intelligence technology, with too much investment flowing in akin to the 2000 dot-com frenzy.
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ASML’s stock climbed 3.1 per cent in Amsterdam. On Wall Street, Broadcom rose 2.7 per cent and Advanced Micro Devices jumped 9.1% and were the two strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.
Several big banks also drove the market higher. Bank of America climbed 4.7 per cent after delivering a profit for the latest quarter that was stronger than analysts expected. CEO Brian Moynihan said every line of the bank’s business reported growth.
Morgan Stanley climbed 5.2 per cent after likewise reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. That followed better-than-expected profit reports from several banks the day before, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
They helped offset a 3.4 per cent drop for PNC Financial. It reported a stronger-than-expected profit for the latest quarter, but it also gave a forecast for upcoming earnings that some analysts said was below expectations.
Abbott Laboratories sank 2.9 per cent after its revenue for the latest quarter finished just shy of analysts’ expectations.
Companies are under pressure to deliver strong profits after their stock prices broadly surged 35 per cent from a low in April. To justify those gains, which critics say made their stock prices too expensive, companies will need to show they’re making much more in profit and will continue to do so.
Corporate profit reports are also under more scrutiny than usual as investors hunt for clues about the health of the U.S. economy. That’s because the U.S. government’s latest shutdown is delaying important updates on the economy, such as the report on inflation that was supposed to arrive Wednesday (US time).
The lack of such reports is making the job more difficult for the Federal Reserve, which is trying to figure out whether high inflation or a slowing job market is the bigger problem for the economy.
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The Fed cut its main interest rate last month for the first time this year, and officials indicated more may be on the way to give the job market a boost. But too low interest rates can push upward on inflation, which has remained stubbornly stuck above the Fed’s 2 per cent target.
Comments from the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, on Tuesday may have hinted more cuts to rates may be on the way.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.04 per cent from 4.03 per cent late Tuesday.
One big winner because of expectations for coming cuts to rates has been gold, and its price rose 0.9 per cent to top $US4,200 per ounce ($6,451). It’s up nearly 60 per cent for the year so far because of a variety of reasons. Investors are looking to buy something that can offer protection from trade wars, real military wars and the prospect of higher inflation coming because of mountains of debt being amassed by the U.S. and other governments worldwide.
Sharemarkets were mixed in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.7 per cent, and France’s CAC 40 rose 2 per cent for two of the world’s bigger moves.
AP, Bloomberg
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