Wall Street Live: US stocks surge on optimism about US-China tariff talks, Tesla sheds over 5%

Wall Street Live: US stocks surged on Thursday on optimism about tariff negotiations between the US and China, and ahead of Friday’s jobs data.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have agreed on a phone call to negotiate on tariffs.

At 12:09 PM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 145.34 points, or 0.33%, to 42,573.08, the S&P 500 gained 23.25 points, or 0.39%, to 5,994.06 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 115.99 points, or 0.60%, at 19,576.48.

At 10:20 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 126.69 points, or 0.30%, to 42,301.05, the S&P 500 lost 12.71 points, or 0.21%, to 5,958.10 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 31.13 points, or 0.16%, to 19,429.36.

At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.2 points, or 0.14%, to 42487.89. The S&P 500 rose 14.9 points, or 0.25%, to 5985.67, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 57.7 points, or 0.30%, to 19518.197.

In terms of economic data, the US trade deficit narrowed sharply in April as imports fell by the most on record.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday the trade gap contracted by a record 55.5% to $61.6 billion, the lowest level since September 2023.

Imports declined by a record 16.3% to $351.0 billion in April.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.34% from 4.37% late on Wednesday.

Gainers and Losers

Tesla shares shed over 5% as the automaker's sales dropped for the fifth straight month in several European markets.

Procter & Gamble shares fell 1.3% after the consumer goods bellwether said it will cut 7,000 jobs over the next two years.

Brown-Forman stock dropped 14.9% after the Jack Daniel's maker forecast a fall in annual revenue and profit.

Five Below stock rallied 7.9% after the retailer reported a stronger quarterly profit.

MongoDB jumped 17.2% after the database company delivered a stronger profit than expected.

Bullion

Gold prices gained on Thursday as investors looked forward to US non-farm payrolls data due on Friday.

Spot gold was up 0.6% at $3,395.29 an ounce, as of 1147 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.6% to $3,419.70.

Spot silver jumped 2.5% to $35.83 per ounce. Platinum rose 3.6% to $1,123.88 and palladium was up 1.8% at $1,018.38.

Crude oil

Oil prices advanced on Thursday after Chinese state media reported that President Xi Jinping spoke with US President Donald Trump by phone.

Brent crude futures rose 85 cents, or 1.3%, at $65.71 a barrel by 1351 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude added 97 cents, or about 1.5%, to $63.82 a barrel.