Wall Street Rises as Fed Minutes Fuel Rate Cuts Hopes

Wall Street indexes closed higher on Wednesday, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, with Nvidia briefly reaching a $4 trillion valuation. Federal Reserve meeting minutes fueled hopes that inflation pressures from President Donald Trump’s tariffs would not derail interest rate cuts this year.

Most Fed officials expect rate cuts to be appropriate later this year, citing “temporary or modest” price shocks from Trump’s import taxes. However, there was little support for a rate cut at the end of July meeting.

Nvidia’s market capitalization soared past $4 trillion, solidifying its position as one of Wall Street’s most favored stocks. Shares in the chip company rose 1.8% with a valuation of around $3.97 trillion.

The Nasdaq Composite gained an all-time high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 also rose, despite concerns about tariff-induced inflation pressure.

Analysts noted that investors have become desensitized to Trump’s trade rhetoric, and many expect negotiations to defuse the trade war with countries like Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Moldova, and the Philippines. The European Union has said it could reach an outline trade agreement with the US in the coming days.

Meanwhile, AES Corp jumped 19.8% after Bloomberg reported that the power provider was exploring options, including a sale. Boeing shares advanced 3.7% as Susquehanna raised its price target after the planemaker reported increased airplane deliveries in June.

However, UnitedHealth Group shares slipped 1.6% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating how the health insurer deployed doctors and nurses to gather diagnoses that increased its Medicare payments.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-street-futures-edge-up-amid-tariff-talks-trade-turbulence-2025-07-09