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Stocks rise as Nvidia reaches $4 trillion valuation; euro edge lower

The major stock indexes grew on Wednesday, with Nvidia reaching a valuation of $4 trillion. Meanwhile, the dollar was barely changed, and the euro dipped lower as U.S. president Donald Trump sent final tariff notices out to seven minor trading partners. The Trump administration is also getting closer to an agreement with the European Union, its largest trading partner. Trump escalated his trade war on Tuesday by announcing that he would impose 50% tariffs on imported copper. This move caused the copper price in the United States to soar and stock prices in America to fall. He said that he will soon introduce pharmaceutical levies up to 200%. On Wednesday, U.S. Copper Futures increased their premium over the London benchmark.

Oliver Pursche is a senior vice president with Wealthspire Advisors, based in Westport, Connecticut.

Investors aren't paying attention to the noise because they don't believe that tariffs will cause a lot of inflation and economic chaos. This hasn't been the case. Investors will be watching for further developments on Trump's trade dispute in the days to come, after he warned 14 countries that they would face sharply increased tariffs by a new deadline set at August 1. Artificial intelligence leader Nvidia, the first publicly traded company to achieve this milestone, helped boost U.S. stock prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 139.86, or 0.31 percent, to 44 377.77. The S&P 500 gained 25.30, or 0.41 percent, to 6, 250.83. And the Nasdaq Composite grew 152.17, or 0.75 percent, to 20,570.63. Investors are concerned that tariffs will increase inflation and slow down economic growth. The U.S. stock market remained higher after the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting on June 17-18 showed that only "a few" officials felt the interest rate could drop as early as this month. The majority of policymakers are concerned about the inflationary pressure that they expect will come from Trump's use import taxes to reshape international trade. MSCI's global stock index rose by 3.92 points or 0.43% to 922.23. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended up with a gain of 0.78%. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket currency) fell 0.03% at 97.52. Meanwhile, the euro dropped 0.07%, reaching $1.1716. The dollar fell 0.18% against the Japanese yen to 146.28. Japan, which is heavily dependent on exports and has the highest level of dependence on them, is farthest away from a deal with Washington. Treasury yields in the United States fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes dropped 7.5 basis points from late Tuesday to 4.342%.

The benchmark German 10-year yield was 2.637%. U.S. crude oil rose 5 cents, settling at $68.38 per barrel.

(source: Reuters)