U.S. stocks were mixed Wednesday afternoon with about two hours left in trading, as hot producer-price data lifted Treasury-yield worries while technology shares rallied on optimism around President Trump’s China summit.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 121.71 points, or 0.24%, to 49,638.9. The S&P 500 rose 44.27 points, or 0.60%, to 7,445.23, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 305.96 points, or 1.17%, to 26,394.2.
The split market showed investors rotating rather than broadly retreating. Inflation worries weighed on industrial and rate-sensitive shares after a hot PPI reading pushed the 10-year Treasury yield toward 4.50%, a level traders often view as pressure on equity valuations. Higher yields are especially important for stocks because they raise the discount rate applied to future earnings, making expensive equities harder to justify.
But the Nasdaq outperformed sharply as investors looked past the inflation shock and toward the Trump-Xi summit in China. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump arrived in China with major business figures, including Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, for talks expected to focus on Iran, trade and U.S.-China economic issues.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the summit a “key moment for tech” and an “inflection point in the AI revolution,” arguing that the presence of Huang, Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook showed how central chips, AI supply chains and China access are to the broader tech trade. The firm said a constructive summit could support Nvidia, hyperscalers and the broader AI ecosystem.
Oil remained elevated but eased during the session. Crude oil traded at $101.67, down $0.51, or 0.50%, after earlier reaching an intraday range of $100.56 to $103.67. The VIX was nearly unchanged at 17.98, down 0.01, or 0.06%, suggesting investors were concerned but not panicking.
The next test for markets is whether tech strength can keep offsetting inflation pressure. If Treasury yields keep rising, the Dow’s weakness could broaden. But for now, Wall Street is treating the Trump-Xi summit as a potential catalyst for AI and semiconductor stocks, even as inflation data keeps the Fed-risk trade alive.