Fiserv earnings missed by $0.61, revenue fell short of estimates
Investing.com --The S&P 500 closed at another record high Tuesday, as rising optimism for a U.S.-China trade deal and expectations for the Federal Reserve to deliver a rate cut after its meeting concludes on Wednesday continued to spur bullish sentiment on Wall Street.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the dow jones industrial average traded 173 points, or 0.4% higher, the s&p 500 index gained 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8%. The three main averages on wall street closed at all-time highs.
Trump, Xi eye de-escalating trade tensions
Ahead of the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, the Wall Street journal reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that the U.S. would be willing to reduce some tariffs on China if the latter agrees to crack down on the export of chemicals used in the production of fentanyl.
The U.S. would be willing to cut its 20% tariff on chemicals-related to fentanyl production by as much as 10%, the sources told the Journal.
The report comes on the heels of the deal that Trump struck with Japan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a protegee of former premier and Trump’s late friend, Shinzo Abe.
Trump and Takaichi inked a framework agreement for securing rare earth supplies, in a bid to bring down international reliance on China for minerals vital in industries ranging from electric vehicles to semiconductors. However, no explicit mention of China, the dominant player in the worldwide rare earth sector, was made by either leader.
Fed starts latest meeting
The Fed starts a two-day policy meeting this session, and is widely expected to deliver a 25-basis-point rate cut at its conclusion on Wednesday.
The move would mark the second reduction this year, bringing the federal funds rate down to the 3.75%-4.00% range. Bets on a cut solidified after a softer-than-expected September consumer price report, coupled with doubts over the strength of the country’s labor market. .
Additionally, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on October 14 that the central bank is ready to end quantitative tightening, citing tighter liquidity conditions, including firmer repo rates.
Wells Fargo calls for an “everything rally” into year-end, forecasting broad gains across risk assets as several market tailwinds align.
The bank expects the S&P 500 to reach 7100 by the end of 2025, supported by seasonality, AI-driven investment, policy catalysts, and consumer stimulus.
Additionally, UBS expects the U.S. stock rally to extend well into next year, forecasting the S&P 500 to reach 7,300 by June 2026, implying around 6% upside from current levels.
Amazon cuts workforce by 14,000; Nvidia soars on new partnerships
The corporate sector was also be in focus this week, with investors bracing for results from the likes of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META).
Ahead of these reports, Amazon said it will reduce its corporate workforce by about 14,000 roles, as the tech giant cuts down on operational layers to limit costs amid ballooning investments in artificial intelligence.
The company had about 1.56 million full-time and part-time employees at the end of last year. Amazon’s corporate workforce includes roughly 350,000 employees.
Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH) lifted its annual adjusted income per share forecast, citing quarterly earnings which topped Wall Street expectations, as CEO Stephen Hemsley aims to reposition the health insurance giant for "durable and accelerating growth" next year.
Delivery giant United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) reported third-quarter earnings that significantly exceeded analyst expectations, despite ongoing volume challenges in its domestic segment.
Digital payments service PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) announced it had signed an agreement with OpenAI to embed its payments wallet into ChatGPT.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced a new agreement with OpenAI that values Microsoft’s stake in the AI company at approximately $135 billion.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), meanwhile, jumped more than 5% after announcing several partnerships including with Nokia, Crowdstrike and U.S. Energy Department.
Peter Nurse, Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article