Stocks rise as Trump softens on Fed Chair Powell, Tesla shares jump: Live Updates

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg (Getty Images)

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said Wednesday that he will work to protect the aerospace giant's turnaround from the impact of the trade war between the U.S. and its trading partners, particularly China.

Ahead of the company's quarterly earnings announcement, Ortberg sent a letter to Boeing employees outlining the company's progress on four areas of its recovery plan, which included comments about how the ongoing trade disputes could impact the company.

"While we are closely watching the developments in global trade, our strong start to the year combined with the demand for airplanes and our half-trillion-dollar backlog for our products and services gives us the flexibility we need to navigate this environment," Ortberg wrote.

During the question-and-answer portion of the earnings call, Ortberg told analysts, "I feel really good about our overall plan for the year, even though I expect the China situation will take away some of the headroom we've built with our strong first-quarter deliveries."

This is an excerpt of an article by FOX Business' Eric Revell

President Trump, late Tuesday, said he has no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, despite several social media posts that indicated his exit couldn't come soon enough.

Trump, did however, jab Powell or "Mr. Too Late" and said he needs to cut interest rates ASAP.

Why it matters to U.S. financial markets...

MARKETS

Trump takes Powell off the chopping block: Why it matters to markets

President Trump put investors at ease after saying he won't fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell even though interest rates are still too high. U.S. stocks rallied on the news.

President Donald Trump (L) and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump, after days of trolling Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for missing the window to cut interest rates and signaling he may lose his job, clarified his plan for the head of the U.S. central bank on Tuesday. 

"I have no intention of firing him," he told reporters at the White House.

His remarks gave the U.S. stock market – which had seen steep downswings on the potential removal of Powell – a boost on Wednesday. Experts say it may not be possible for Trump to fire the Fed chair."

Powell has done an abysmal job, but it is another element of uncertainty that the market doesn’t need right now to have all this talk about firing or replacing Powell," EJ Antoni, a senior fellow at Unleash Prosperity, said during an appearance on "Varney & Co." on Wednesday. Antoni noted inflation hit over 9% in July 2022 on Powell's watch.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick convinced Trump to stand down because firing Powell wouldn’t make a difference, as interest rates would remain at current levels and any move would just irk financial markets already in turmoil over tariffs, according to The Wall Street Journal.

This year, the Nasdaq Composite has lost 13%, the S&P 500 more than 8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearly 7%. U.S. markets are coming back from steeper losses earlier this month.

This is an excerpt of an article by FOX Business' Suzanne O'Halloran

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (Getty Images)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said that there's an opportunity for a "big deal" with China to lower tariffs if Beijing is willing to take steps to rebalance its economy.

Bessent delivered keynote remarks at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and participated in a question-and-answer session in which he said the U.S. and China could make a deal on tariffs if China is willing to adjust its economy toward more consumption and less of a reliance on manufacturing exports.

"There is an opportunity for a big deal here," Bessent said. "The U.S. is looking to rebalance to more manufacturing. The identity of that would be less consumption." 

"If China is serious on less dependence on export-led manufacturing growth and a rebalancing toward a domestic economy – I think they use the term dual circulation, well, right now it's really singular circulation. And if they want to rebalance, let's do it together. This is an incredible opportunity," Bessent said.

This is an excerpt from an article by FOX Business' Eric Revell

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (Reuters)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that more than 100 countries have approached the U.S. "wanting to help rebalance global trade" in response to President Donald Trump's tariff announcements.

"These countries have responded openly and positively to the president's actions to create a more balanced international system," Bessent said at the Institute of International Finance. "We are engaged in meaningful discussions, and look forward to talking with others."

Intel shares rose on a report the company will cut 20% of its workforce, as reported by Bloomberg.

The troubled chipmaker has fallen behind rivals and recently named new CEO Lip-Bu Tan to lead a turnaround. He took over last month.

Intel shares are marginally higher year-to-date, but have lost over 40% over the past 12 months.

Tesla shares spiked in early trading after CEO Elon Musk said he will soon step back from his role of ferreting out government waste, while also defending DOGE's, I.E. The Department of Government Efficiency, mission.

"I do think there's the large slug of work necessary to get the DOGE team in place and working in the government to get the financial house in order is mostly done. And I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly. I'll have to continue doing it for, I think, probably the remainder of the President's term, just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back" he told investors on the company's earnings call late Wednesday.

The EV maker reported disappointing earnings, partly as a result of the pushback, protests and attacks on vehicles the company is getting in response to Musk's DOGE role.

"I'll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to do so and as long as it is useful. But starting next month, I'll be allocating probably more of my time to Tesla and now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done" he added.

Shares, while higher Wednesday, are still off nearly 40% for the year.

A China Shipping container is seen at the port of Oakland, as trade tensions escalate over U.S. tariffs with China, in Oakland, California, U.S., April 10, 2025. Reuters/Carlos Barria/File Photo/File Photo

Customers have canceled 30% of shipments from China to the U.S. over concerns about the tit-for-tat trade war between the two countries, according to an international container shipping firm. 

A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd, a German company, told Reuters on Wednesday that that trade conflict has instead sparked a "massive increase" in demand for shipments from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

President Donald Trump has slapped multiple rounds sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports, now totaling 145%. Earlier this month, Trump paused tariffs on dozens of countries except for China. Beijing had retaliated with 125% duties levied on U.S. imports. 

Trump, however, has expressed optimism toward reaching a trade deal with China, saying that tariffs on Chinese imports will come down “substantially” now that that there are talks between Washington and Beijing, though that the tariff “won’t be zero.”

President Donald Trump's administration is negotiating trade deals with U.S. trading partners after he imposed "reciprocal" tariffs on nearly all countries. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has said that the 145% tax Americans currently pay for imported goods from China will come down now that there are talks between Washington and Beijing.

Trump says that tariffs will drop if the U.S. and China can finally reach a deal adding that it “won’t be zero.”

“It will come down substantially, but it won’t be zero,” Trump said Tuesday.

His comments come following Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s statement that the standoff was unsustainable.

Trump says the U.S and China are “doing fine” stating “everybody wants to have involvement” in American markets.

He also says that both he and Chinese representatives would be “very nice” in upcoming talks.

“We’re going to be very nice and they’re going to be very nice, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

The Trump administration has met for talks with counterparts from Japan, India, South Korea, the European Union, Canada and Mexico, among other nations.

Trump’s 90-day pause on his wide-ranging global tariffs did not include China.

A rare-earth mine in Bayan Obo, a mining town, is seen in Inner Mongolia in China. The mines north of the town are some of the largest deposits of rare earth metals found in the world. (Bert van Dijk / Getty Images)

Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk says production of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots is being delayed and is being affected by China's export restrictions of rare earth magnets.

The automaker has been working with Beijing to get an export license to use rare earth magnets.

Beijing has imposed restrictions on seven more rare earths saying they have concerns that the materials have both civilian and military applications.

"China wants some assurances that these are not used for military purposes, which obviously they're not. They're just going into a humanoid robot," he said during an earnings conference call, adding that it's not a weapon.

China placed export restrictions on rare earths as part of its sweeping response to U.S. tariffs, restricting the supply of minerals used to make weapons, electronics and a range of consumer goods.

Musk says he expects Tesla to make thousands of Optimus robots within the year.

Reuters contributed to this report