And still, uncertainty
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Trump administration today officially acknowledged what businesses have been saying for weeks: The trade war with China is "unsustainable" in its current form.
- Besides that, however, businesses and investors are no clearer on what a trade agreement might actually look like when the dust settles.
Catch up quick: Stocks have jumped, retreated, jumped again, and pulled back again on at least four different comments coming from the Trump administration over the last two days, remarks intended either for China's ears or for jittery U.S. investors.
State of play: The latest update came from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who told reporters this morning that the trade war was "unsustainable," but that the U.S. will not move unilaterally to reduce tariffs.
Between the lines: That was a good news/bad news statement for investors.
- It's clear the U.S. and China haven't begun talking yet.
- In the meantime, the trade tensions threaten to all but shutter commerce between the world's two largest economies.
Zoom in: The now-familiar volatility in the stock market was particularly evident over the last two sessions in stocks sensitive to the U.S.-China trade war.
- Apple jumped 3.4% yesterday on the day's headlines. It jumped another 4% at the open today following Trump's reassurances that he didn't intend to play hardball — but then surrendered some of those gains following Bessent's statement. All in all, it's up 5.9% over the last two sessions.
- Caterpillar showed a similar arc. It jumped over 2% yesterday, and another 4.5% this morning before retreating. In total it's now up over 4% in two days.
- And Nvidia had jumped nearly 8% at one point, before finishing up 6% for the sessions.
The bottom line: The only sustained thing in the market right now is uncertainty.
