US: Stocks rally fades after China trade framework

Wall Street stocks finished lower on Wednesday despite positive movement in the US-China trade conflict and a benign US inflation report.

Following two days of talks in London, top US and Chinese negotiators announced a “framework” agreement late on Tuesday that included Chinese concessions on rare earth materials and Washington allowing Chinese students to study at US universities.

But stocks fell in what Briefing.com described as a “sell the news” response to a breakthrough that had been largely priced in.

The broad-based S&P 500, which rose the last three days, finished down 0.3 per cent at 6,022.24.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 42,865.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.5 per cent to 19,615.88.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned a broader deal with China would take a “longer process,” saying it was possible to rebalance economic ties with Beijing only if Beijing proved a “reliable partner in trade negotiations.”

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And for partners “negotiating in good faith,” Bessent told a congressional committee, there could be an extended pause before higher threatened tariff rates take effect in July.

Besides trade, markets digested key inflation data.

Consumer prices rose 2.4 per cent compared with a year ago, up from a 2.3 per cent reading for the prior month, a modest uptick that analysts said still did not fully reflect the impact from Trump’s tariffs.

Sam Stovall of CFRA Research described Wednesday’s session as a “rollercoaster,” positing that the negative finale may reflect unease at reports Trump could appoint a “shadow” Federal Reserve Chair to try to influence monetary policy without firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Stovall also highlighted the possibility that “the market is overbought and due for some sort of digestion of gains.”

Among those falling, large tech names including Amazon, Facebook parent Meta and Apple lost more than one per cent. AFP