US stocks end higher on hopes of trade war de-escalation

Bessent calls US-China tariffs unsustainable, Trump open to negotiations

20250423N NYSE trader

U.S. stocks built on early momentum after President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had "no intention" of firing Fed chief Jerome Powell. © Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Wall Street stocks advanced on Wednesday on revived hopes for progress in the U.S.-China trade dispute and as President Donald Trump soothed fears the Federal Reserve could lose its autonomy with reassurances that he has "no intention of firing" Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

All three major U.S. stock indexes pared gains by the closing bell. They gathered momentum during the session after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said high tariffs between the U.S. and China were unsustainable and Trump signaled he was open to easing trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

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