Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq hit highs on Vietnam trade deal

MacySci/Tech2025-07-044880

Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq hit highs on Vietnam trade deal originally appeared on TheStreet.

Updated: 4:30 p.m. EDT

Stocks ended in record territory Wednesday after President Trump announced a trade deal with Vietnam.

The S&P 500 gained 0.47% to close at a record high to 6,227.42 after posting a fresh all-time intraday high during the session, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.94% to close at its own record of 20,393.13 .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off slightly to finish at 44,484.42.

Regarding the jobs report from ADP, Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank said tariff hikes and policy uncertainty gave employers reason to be cautious toward hiring in the second quarter, while the Israel-Iran war was a further reason to put hiring plans on hold in June.

"The current crackdown on immigration means that financial markets will likely be surprised by the unemployment rate holding steadier in the second half of the year than is currently priced in," he said..

Updated: 3:50 p.m. EDT

Stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday, although Tuesday's winners were falling back.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index hit new a 52-week high of 6,224 but then fell back very slightly on weakness in such shares as Amazon.com (AMZN) , Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) , all which have huge market capitalizations.

At 3:50 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 was up 25 points at 6,223, just below that 52-week high.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 174 points, or 0.9%, to 20,379. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 24 points to 44,470.

A winner was Tesla (TSLA) , whose shares were up 4.8% to $315.28 after second-quarter deliveries met Street estimates.

The company delivered 384,122 vehicles world-wide, just below the FactSet estimate of 386,000 deliveries. But the total was 13.5% lower than deliveries in the second quarter of 2024.

Tesla has struggled in 2025. Tesla’s sales in Europe fell about 37% year over year in April and May combined, Barrons reported. Tesla’s quarterly sales in China, based on weekly numbers tracked by Citi analyst Jeff Chung, declined more than 10% year over year.

Also winners (or better), modest winners were U.S. companies that source much of their products from Vietnam. The Trump Administration said Vietnam has agreed to 20% on goods exported to the United States.

Seven of 11 S&P 500 sectors were higher on the day, led by energy, materials, technology and consumer discretionary stocks.

Crude oil was 2.8% to $67.29 per 42-gallon barrel. Bond yields were higher as well. The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.291%, up from Tuesday's 4.243%. The rate on a 30-year mortgage is about 6.7%.

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Health insurance stocks pull Dow lower

The Dow's small decline is lower primarily because of weakness in heath insurance giant UnitedHealth Group (UNH) , down 4% to $313, and Travelers Companies (TRV) , down 3.4% to $258. The fall was mostly in sympathy with a 39% drop in shares of rival Centene (CNC) to $34.36.

Late Tuesday, Centene announced it was withdrawing its guidance for 2025 because of heavy losses from plans it was selling primarily on the Affordable Care Act Exchanges. The announcement said the company had received data covering 72% of the plans sold through the ACA exchanges that showed:

Plan growth was slower than expected.
Patients were sicker than expected.

The plans were roiled because the Trump administration has been cracking down on what Bloomberg News called inappropriate or fraudulent enrollments on the ACA exchanges.

Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT) shares were down slightly at $490. The Seattle Times reported the company is laying off some 9,000 workers, about 4% of the world-wide workforce of 228,000.

The move follows two waves of layoffs in May and June, which saw Microsoft fire more than 6,000 employees, almost 2,300 of whom were based in Washington State.

A hint of the jobs report?

ADP (ADP) , the big payroll processor, reported private-sector employers shed some 33,000 jobs when estimates were for a gain of close to 100,000.

The report is a hint of what Thursday's big jobs report might say. The report comes out at 8:30a.m. ET. (It's a day earlier than usual because the July 4 holiday is Friday.)

Markets will close early on Thursday for the July 4 holiday. The New York Stock Exchange will close at 1 p.m. ET. Futures trading will close at 1 p.m. ET.

Markets will open at usual hours on July 7.

President says Vietnam inks a trade deal

Stocks received a boost soon after the open when President Trump announced a new trade deal with Vietnam on Wednesday. He said Vietnam would pay 20% tariffs on goods exported to the United States.

In fact, the tariffs will be paid by a combination of importers bringing goods into the United States, wholesalers and retailers.

Companies with large operations in Vietnam include Nike (NKE) , lululemon Athletica (LULU) , Under Armour (UA) and Deckers Outdoor DECK.

Shares of all four companies were higher in late morning trading. Nike was the second-best performer in the Consumer Discretionary sector, up 2.9% to $75.56. Tesla's gain led the sector.

Tuesday: Quite the crazy day

Yesterday was quite the crazy day, with market leaders tumbling, while stocks that had been lagging saw big gains.

As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged nearly 1%, while the market-cap weighted S&P 500 lost 0.11%. Most stocks were actually higher on the day, which really shows that it was the mega-cap companies that were down. Like Tesla (TSLA) , which lost 5% as the breakup fight between President Trump and Elon Musk continued, with Trump threatening to deport the South African and end subsidies to Musk-controlled companies.

Economy

The so-called Big Beautiful Tax Bill passed the Senate yesterday by the slimmest of margins. Senators were deadlocked on it, forcing V.P. JD Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote. The Senate's version of the bill now goes back to the House for approval before it can be passed on to the President. Republican hard-liners are not happy with the Senate's version, so there is some question as to whether it will be approved by the self-imposed July 4th deadline.

Tariffs are also set to go into effect on July 9th. The President confirmed this yesterday in response to a question from a member of the press while aboard Air Force One. Thus far, the U.S. has been unable to reach a deal with Japan. A deal with India appears to be close.

Yesterday, the Institute for Supply Management released its May survey of purchasing managers. The headline number came in at 49, which was an improvement over the May number, but continues to suggest that the economy is contracting.

Jobs are also contracting. ADP reported this morning that private employers shed 33,000 jobs in June. Losses were in high paying areas like professional and business services as well as education and health services. There were gains in leisure and hospitality as well as manufacturing. It wasn't so much layoffs causing the decline. It was a reluctance to replace departing workers.

ADP