Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 13, 2025, in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stock futures rose Wednesday, following a volatile session, as traders digested the latest developments in the U.S.-China trade war and weighed new quarterly reports from major companies.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded higher by 196 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
Bank of America shares jumped 4% after the company posted third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations, thanks to strong investment banking revenue. That report comes after a spate of better-than-expected reports from Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, among others, on Tuesday.
Morgan Stanley and PNC Financial are set to report earnings before the bell. J.B. Hunt Transport is due out after the close.
Still, Wall Street veteran Art Hogan believes that stocks will likely trade sideways from here, wavering near all-time highs as long as trade war uncertainty persists. The chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management also said the U.S. government shutdown is another headwind for the market.
“The longer it lasts, the more economic damage it does upfront. So that’s affecting confidence. It’s likely going to affect guidance from Corporate America during the conference calls,” he said to CNBC. “Earnings seasons may well be much better than expected across the board, with the usual percentage of companies that beat and raise and all that. I just don’t think that that acts as a tailwind, necessarily, until we get closer to the government reopening and perhaps more clarity on our trade relationship with China.”
Trade fears led to a tumultuous session on Tuesday. The S&P 500 attempted to stage a comeback, but ultimately closed lower after President Donald Trump threatened China with a cooking oil embargo late in the session as retaliation for Beijing not buying U.S. soybeans. On Tuesday, the benchmark was up as much as 0.4% and down as much as 1.5%.
The Nasdaq Composite fell but closed well off the lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend to rise just over 200 points, although it had fallen as much 1.3% on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday’s news was the latest ramp-up in trade tensions between the U.S. and China. On Monday night, China put new sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean. This followed Trump’s threats last Friday to place an additional 100% tariff on any goods coming from China after Beijing imposed strict export controls on rare earth minerals. Trump’s tariffs could go live on Nov. 1 or sooner, depending on China’s next move, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC Tuesday.
“A lot depends on what the Chinese do,” Greer said. “They are the ones who have chosen to make this major escalation.”
