U.S. equities rose on Wednesday as the Supreme Court’s tough questions about President Donald Trump’s tariffs raised hopes that some of the duties may be rolled back.
The Dow Jones Industrials bounced 225.76 points to close the session at 47,311.
The S&P 500 raced 24.74 points to close the day at 6,796.29.
The NASDAQ grabbed 151.16 points to 23,499.80.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices and other names in the artificial intelligence trade also rebounded from valuation concerns that plagued the market in the prior day.
Investors were paying attention to the Supreme Court hearing arguments Wednesday regarding President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
At issue is whether the president had the authority to impose such duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.
The high court’s justices focused their questions on the legality of the sweeping tariffs, with both conservative and liberal members asking Solicitor General D. John Sauer about the Trump administration’s justification for implementing the levies.
Traders on prediction markets reduced their bets that the Supreme Court would uphold Trump’s tariffs in light of the court’s apparent skepticism.
Meanwhile, shares of Detroit automakers Ford and General Motors, two tariff-risk bellwethers, popped 3% each, and construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar grew 4%.
Among the other winners of the day, AMD had opened lower before ultimately turning positive, lifting other AI stocks with it. The company posted third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations, though traders initially were worried about its margin outlook. Shares were last higher by 3%.
Alongside AMD, others such as Broadcom and Micron Technology saw gains, reversing course from their losses in the previous session to jump almost 2% and 9%, respectively.
Leading AI players Nvidia and Oracle recovered from Tuesday’s losses to rise Wednesday as well.
On the economic front, investors continued to seek clarity using alternative data in lieu of government reports. ADP reported Wednesday that private companies saw their payrolls rise by 42,000 in October.
That figure beat the Dow Jones forecast for a gain of 22,000 and comes after September marked a drop of 29,000 in September.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell Wednesday, pushing yields to 4.16% from Tuesday’s 4.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 91 cents to $59.65 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices ballooned $32.60 to $3,993.10 U.S. an ounce.
