Trump Calls For More Tariffs, Federal Reserve Minutes On Deck: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

All three major U.S. indices are red in Wednesday's midday trading as investors weighed President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on auto imports, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. An official announcement is expected as soon as April 2. 

Markets are anticipating the release of the most recent FOMC minutes later in the trading day which will give further insight into the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. The Fed held interest rates steady at its last meeting and has signaled it is in no hurry to lower rates. 

Natural gas futures were up 5%, closing in on a two-year high, as extreme cold temperatures across the U.S. drove higher heating demand and froze oil and gas wells, disrupting production. Adding to the pressure on prices are record-level gas flows to LNG export plants. The United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSE:UNG) ETF was up more than 5% midday Wednesday. 

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The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note held above 4.5% on Wednesday after Trump issued new tariff threats which fueled inflation concerns. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) rose 0.03% to $88.13. 

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rose to above the $96,000 level as crypto markets recovered some of Tuesday's losses. 

Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1 day % chg.
Nasdaq 100	20,037.70	-0.02%
S&P 500	6,132.74	0.05%
Dow Jones	44,465.91	-0.2%
Russell 2000	2,284.05	0.28%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) inched up 0.05% to $611.78
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) was down 0.17% at $445.16.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) was flat at $539.41.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) fell 0.4% to $226.31.
• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) dipped 0.38% to $225.52.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) rose 1.36% to $92.54.

Wednesday's Stock Movers: 

Shares of EV truck maker Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ:NKLA) plummeted after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking to auction its assets while continuing limited operations through March 2025. Another small EV company, Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:MULN), shares are down after the company reported significant losses in its fourth-quarter earnings release before the opening bell. 

Stocks reacting to company earnings reports included: 

• Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE:DVN) 
• Bumble, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) 
• Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) 
• Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS)
• Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) 
• Appian Corp. (NASDAQ:APPN) 
• Arista Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANET) 
• SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEDG) 
• Global-E Online Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLBE) 
• Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) 

Companies reporting after Wednesday's closing bell include: 

• Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) 
• Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST) 
• The Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ:CAKE) 
• Alamos Gold Inc.  (NYSE:AGI)
• Borr Drilling Limited (NYSE:BORR) 
• Taseko Mines, Ltd. (AMEX:TGB) 
• Equinox Gold Corp.  (AMEX:EQX) 
• B2Gold Corp. (AMEX:BTG) 
• Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) 
• Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:EXAS) 
• Grab Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GRAB) 

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