US open: Stocks trade higher after Trump announces exemptions to chip tariffs

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the green early on Thursday after Donald Trump's newly announced chip tariffs included broad exemptions.

As of 1510 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.30% at 44,324.58, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.56% to 6,380.82 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 1.01% firmer at 21,382.47.

The Dow opened 131.46 points higher on Thursday, extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Trump announced on Wednesday that the White House would impose a 100% tariff on imported chips, but said companies that were "building in the United States" would be exempted.

"We're going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors," Trump said. "But the good news for companies like Apple is if you're building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge."

Apple rose 2% in early trading, as did Advanced Micro Devices and VanEck Semiconductor ETF, while Nvidia shares were up more than 1%.

In terms of quarterly earnings, drugmaker Eli Lilly hiked FY profit guidance on Thursday as it revealed Q2 revenues had surged 38% to $15.56bn. However, shares headed south in pre-market after Eli Lilly released trial data that showed its weight-loss pill cut body weight by less than a rival treatment from Novo Nordisk.

On the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 2 August, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 226,000 from the prior week's upwardly revised level, above market expectations of a softer increase to 221,000, while continuing claims soared by 38,000 to 1.974m, ahead of the 1.95m print expected by economists. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, decreased by 500 to 220,750.

Elsewhere, wholesale inventories rose by 0.1% month-on-month to $906.3bn in June, according to the Census Bureau, down slightly from preliminary estimates of a 0.2% increase, but bouncing back from May's 0.3% decline.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $218.87 4.37%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $69.88 2.87%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $21.72 1.97%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.89 1.67%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.56 1.17%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $251.89 1.09%

Boeing Co. (BA) $227.07 0.90%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $389.59 0.72%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $254.09 0.72%

3M Co. (MMM) $151.63 0.54%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $286.00 -3.05%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $523.85 -1.35%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $423.32 -1.03%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.03 -0.40%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $244.87 -0.37%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $75.36 -0.16%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $267.20 -0.14%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $103.26 -0.10%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $79.44 0.00%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $291.35 0.00%

S&P 500 - Risers

Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $4.96 18.94%

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH) $100.12 9.84%

Becton, Dickinson & Company (BDX) $186.70 8.29%

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $72.18 7.24%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $308.71 4.91%

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $224.70 4.84%

Apache Corp. (APA) $19.72 4.78%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $112.89 4.57%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $218.87 4.37%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $185.31 4.07%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $71.53 -26.26%

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $645.34 -13.54%

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $80.82 -10.10%

Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $281.85 -6.97%

McKesson Corp. (MCK) $665.24 -5.47%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $13.62 -3.51%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $95.16 -3.22%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $147.24 -3.13%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $286.00 -3.05%

Tapestry Inc. (TPR) $108.81 -2.98%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $308.71 4.91%

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $224.70 4.84%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $112.89 4.57%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $218.87 4.37%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $185.31 4.07%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $183.03 3.76%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $713.88 3.76%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $318.82 3.58%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $910.61 3.46%

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $975.21 3.41%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,347.00 -4.44%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $13.62 -3.51%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $11.07 -3.32%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $95.16 -3.22%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $147.24 -3.13%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $286.00 -3.05%

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $21.18 -2.75%

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $59.86 -2.61%

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $3.22 -2.57%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $74.04 -2.47%