Dow Up 180 Points On Hopes US-Mexico Tariffs Would Be Delayed

Wall Street staged another dramatic rally Thursday, this time by 180 points at the Dow, on the faint hope president Donald Trump’s threatened 5 percent tariff on Mexico set to bite on June 10 is nothing more than tough talk.

White House officials, however, continue to downplay the likelihood a deal to avert the tariffs will be had before Monday.

Wall Street's optimistic comeback occurred despite gloomy reports U.S. and Mexican officials on Thursday again failed to reach a deal to avert the import tariffs. The continuing impasse also dashed hopes among investors a resolution to the immigration crisis Trump blames solely on Mexico is at hand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 181.09 points to 25,720.66 Thursday, improving its gain for the week to more than 900 points. The uptick also sets-up the Dow for its best week of the year.

Chiming in, the S&P 500 gained 0.61 percent to 2,843.49, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.53 percent to 7,615.55.

Analysts said stocks rose to their highs of the day after Bloomberg News reported the U.S. is considering a postponement of the new 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports. No verification of this news from other media outlets followed.

Bloomberg’s story was enough to initially send shares of Ford, GM and Kansas City Southern (which have large exposures in Mexico) moving significantly higher. Optimism soon faded with shares of all three firms losing their gains.

Thursday’s gains were a welcome continuation to the Dow’s 500-point jump on Tuesday, its second-best session this year. The Dow’s 200-point jump on Wednesday and Thursday pushed its week-to-date performance up more than 3.6 percent.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ this week are up 3.3 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Both the Dow and S&P 500 are on pace for their best week since November 2018. The NASDAQ remains in correction territory.

Much of the market’s undue optimism can be traced to statements from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who on Tuesday said the Fed will “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.” His remarks confirmed the willingness of the Fed to cut interest rates should it be called for.

Traders now see a more than 90 percent chance of a rate cut in September and a 60 percent chance of three rate cuts this year. These rosy projections hinge on developments in trade talks with both Mexico and China, however.

The Mexicans as of Thursday remained pessimistic about any prelimninary deal being reached before June 10.

“We don’t have yet an agreement. So tomorrow morning we are going to keep working,” said Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard to reporters as he left the Department of State Thursday evening.

“Options continue to be explored,” tweeted his spokesman, Roberto Velasco. “The stance of the United States is focused on measures of migratory control, ours on development.”