NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed solidly in positive territory on Tuesday, after seesawing between modest gains and losses in choppy trading as investors assessed the latest round of corporate earnings, economic data and changes on the trade policy front.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted China could lose 10 million jobs quickly due to tariffs, but signaled progress on trade deals with other countries including Japan and India.
The world’s two largest economies have been at the center of a global trade war, sparked by tariff announcements on April 2 by the Trump administration on countries around the globe, which has stoked investor concerns about rapidly slowing global growth and a rekindling of price pressures.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said U.S. President Donald Trump would sign an order, which he in fact did just before the closing bell on Tuesday, giving automakers building vehicles in the U.S. relief from part of his new 25% vehicle tariffs to allow them time to bring parts supply chains back home.
Automaker shares showed little reaction to the potentially lighter tariffs, and General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab shares ended 0.6% lower after the company reported strong quarterly results but rescinded its annual forecast.
The blue-chip Dow (.DJI), opens new tab was led by gains in Honeywell (HON.O), opens new tab, which jumped 5.4% after reporting a rise in adjusted profit for the first quarter, and paint maker Sherwin-Williams (SHW.N), opens new tab, which rallied 4.8% after its quarterly profit beat estimates.
Also among Dow components, Coca-Cola (KO.N), opens new tab closed 0.8% higher after beating revenue and profit estimates.
“A lot of the economic data is going to be mixed, it’s going to be really hard to discern tariff impacts probably for the next month or two,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan.
“Corporate profits, the companies that are most impacted by tariffs, are doing what we would expect, they’re cutting guidance or they’re suspending guidance.”
Economic data pointed to an increasing impact from the trade picture. The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to a record high in March as businesses ramped up efforts to bring in merchandise ahead of tariffs while a separate report from the Conference Board showed its consumer confidence index dropped to its lowest reading since May 2020, while job openings indicated a relatively stable labor market.