Wall Street ends up with Nvidia; appeals court reinstates Trump tariffs

U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Thursday as shares of Nvidia gained after its quarterly results, while investors digested a late-afternoon court ruling that reinstated the most sweeping of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The appeals court ruling came a day after a trade court had ordered an immediate block on the tariffs.

Indexes ended well off their highs of the day. Salesforce shares fell even as the enterprise software provider raised its annual revenue and adjusted profit forecasts.

“Trump has already rolled back most of these tariffs anyway, so these court rulings are just headlines,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in New York.

Nvidia gained after the company late on Wednesday reported upbeat sales results, driven by customers stockpiling AI chips ahead of U.S. export restrictions on China.

The company, however, warned that the new curbs are expected to cut $8 billion from its current-quarter sales.

Optimism about corporate earnings and Nvidia in particular is providing some support, said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president, adviser for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

But he added, “As an investor, I don’t think there’s an impetus to do anything or change anything, and that’s what the market is reflecting.”

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 23.53 points, or 0.40%, to end at 5,912.08 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 74.77 points, or 0.39%, to 19,175.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 118.97 points, or 0.28%, to 42,217.67.

Boeing rose after CEO Kelly Ortberg said the planemaker aims to increase production of its best-selling 737 MAX jets to 42 aircraft per month in the next few months and boost output to 47 a month in early 2026.

A second reading from the Commerce Department showed gross domestic product contracted 0.2% in the first quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.3% contraction.

In other earnings, Best Buy shares fell after the electronics retailer lowered its annual comparable sales and profit forecasts amid concerns that U.S. tariffs would weigh on consumer demand for big-ticket items.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New YorkAdditional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Kanchana Chakravarty in BenglauruEditing by Pooja Desai, Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)

A court ruling blocking most of U.S. President Donald Trump’s import duties could add uncertainty around when the government will no longer be able to pay all its obligations without raising the U.S. debt ceiling, Barclays analysts said.

A U.S. trade court blocked most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs in a sweeping ruling on Wednesday that found the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from U.S. trading partners. The Trump administration filed a notice of appeal and questioned the authority of the court.