CNBC Daily Open: Headwinds don't seem to bother the U.S. stock market

In this article

Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today

The U.S. stock market appears a little too optimistic. All three major indexes climbed Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite enjoying their third consecutive session in the green. The S&P, in fact, is around 2% away from its all-time high, which it reached in February.

That’s despite the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs still haunting the economy. As the 90-day tariff pause ticks down, America, so far, has just one deal, struck with the U.K., and an agreement with China that, while reaffirmed by both sides after two days of negotiations in London, is still preliminary and keeps tariffs at double-digit levels.

Corporations are seemingly bracing for economic fallout already. Layoffs have been accelerating this year. Google and Paramount on Tuesday joined Microsoft, Citigroup and Disney in announcing headcount cuts. (However, it should be noted that layoffs, rather perversely, tend to push up stock prices because they are a cost-cutting measure.)