Some market relief after Japan trade deal

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SOME MARKET RELIEF AFTER JAPAN TRADE DEAL

The S&P 500 .SPX and Dow .DJI are up slightly in early trading on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with Japan.

The deal will cut tariffs on the Japanese auto sector to 15% from 27.5%, with duties on other goods also dropping to 15% from 25%. Investors are expecting further trade agreements ahead of the August 1 deadline.

"It’s a sign of the times that markets would cheer 15% tariffs. A year ago, that level of tariffs would be shocking. Today, we breathe a sigh of relief," Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, wrote late Tuesday.

The Nasdaq .IXIC is slightly in the red early, with investors also highly anticipating quarterly results from Tesla TSLA.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O after the closing bell. Shares of Alphabet are down 0.6% early, while Tesla is up 0.2%.

Focus is slowly shifting to results from tech-related names, with shares of Texas Instruments TXN.O down 12% in early trading after the company's quarterly profit forecast did not impress.

Other chipmakers are down as well, including NXP Semiconductors NXPI.O, down 3.5%.

Industrials .SPLRCI is the leading sector gainer in the S&P 500, while healthcare .SPXHC is showing strength for a second day.

Communication services .SPLRCL and tech .SPLRCT are both lagging again.

Here is the early market snapshot:

(Caroline Valetkevitch)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

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