Stocks Hit a Wall as Trump’s Remarks Lift Copper: Markets Wrap

This content was published on July 8, 2025 - 23:00

7 minutes

(Bloomberg) — Stocks failed to gain traction near all-time highs, with Donald Trump saying the August deadline for the start of reciprocal tariffs won’t be extended, despite hopes he’s open to trade talks. Copper surged as the US president called for a 50% tariff. Treasuries fell.

Following a torrid run from April lows, the S&P 500 barely budged as traders remained on guard for headline risk. Copper producer Freeport-McMoRan Inc. rallied. A gauge of drugmakers whipsawed as Trump indicated he could offer pharmaceutical manufacturers at least a year before applying a 200% tariff on foreign-made products. In megacaps, Tesla Inc. climbed while Amazon.com Inc. fell at the start of its Prime Day sales event.

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As Treasuries slipped, 30-year yields approached 5%, following a rout in longer-dated Japanese bonds and German bunds. A $58 billion US sale of three-year notes drew soft demand. That was the first in a trio of auctions this week. The dollar wavered.

Trump signaled a renewed determination to push ahead with his plans to heavily tax foreign imports. He also told reporters that despite progress with the European Union on a trade deal, frustration over the bloc’s taxes and fines targeting US technology firms could result in him unilaterally declaring a new tariff rate within the next two days.

“Trade-war headlines are regaining momentum, but that doesn’t mean we’re in for a repeat of late March and early April,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro. “If there is confidence that negotiations will continue or deadlines will be extended, markets may continue to shake off the headlines.”

However, Kenwell noted that if investors feel the trade situation could become “more bite than bark,” we could very well see another pullback in stocks.

“Unless the situation really unravels, a 5% to 10% pullback will likely be viewed as a buying opportunity by retail investors,” he noted.

“While tariffs will likely remain high — compared with levels at the start of the year — as will the headline risk, we think the US effective tariff rate should end the year at around 15%,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management. “This would be a headwind to growth but not enough to trigger a recession.”

She continued to recommend phasing into global equities or diversified portfolios to navigate volatility ahead.

Investors should look to reload on hedges ahead of the Aug. 1 tariff deadline as US equity indexes are near record highs with geopolitical risk premium largely dissipated, JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists led by Bram Kaplan wrote.

While top-down drivers such as macro growth forecasts being slightly up point to solid S&P 500 earnings growth for the second quarter, Deutsche Bank AG strategists led by Binky Chadha expect the idiosyncratic effects of tariffs to reduce profits.

Meantime, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists raised their outlook for US stocks for the second time in two months, saying they expect the Federal Reserve to act sooner to cut rates.

The team led by David Kostin lifted their 12-month forecast for the S&P 500 to 6,900 from 6,500, and increased the year-end target to 6,600 from 6,100. They also cited lower Treasury yields and strength in the largest US companies as reasons to power stocks.

The gauge closed at 6,225.52 on Tuesday.

Bank of America Corp. strategists also boosted their outlook for US equities, citing Corporate America’s ability to maintain earnings guidance.

Strategists including Savita Subramanian and Jill Carey Hall raised their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,300 from 5,600, and established a 12-month target of 6,600.

“We believe the setup for equity markets looks bullish, even in light of renewed trade-war jitters,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler. “While equities may come under some near-term pressure, investors are increasingly becoming numb to the tariff headlines and instead focusing on the trendlines.”

Johnson says technically, measures of market breadth and trends remain constructive, and the weight of the technical evidence supports his bullish outlook as earnings season approaches.

Corporate Highlights:

Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Day sales fell almost 14% in the first four hours of the event compared with the start of last year’s sale, according to Momentum Commerce, which manages 50 brands in a variety of product categories.
Boeing Co. said it delivered 60 aircraft in June, its best showing in 18 months that reflects improvements in its factories and the resumption of US jet exports to China.
HSBC is turning cautious on three of the biggest US bank stocks following a record rally that’s brought the group within shouting distance of an all-time high.
Shares of US solar companies fell after Trump called for new rules that would limit access to tax incentives for renewable energy projects that had already been pared back by a $3.4 trillion budget bill.
SpaceX is discussing plans to raise money and sell insider shares in a deal that would value Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker around $400 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
Ciena Corp. was cut to underweight from equal-weight citing at Morgan Stanley, which cited a lack of margin upside in the near term.
Hershey Co. appointed Kirk Tanner to be the chocolate maker’s next president and chief executive officer.
Walt Disney Co. and Hearst Corp. are considering a sale of their A+E Global Media joint venture, which includes cable-TV channels such as History and Lifetime, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Robinhood Markets Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev said the firm is in talks with regulators over its offering of tokenized equities in Europe, after the launch drew rebuke from companies including OpenAI.

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