US Stock Market Live: Dow futures up 200 points; Hyundai unveils first electric SUV in China

Hyundai Motor Co. is set to launch its first battery electric vehicle specifically for the Chinese market as the carmaker seeks to counter local competition and reverse slumping sales.

The Elexio — an electric sport utility vehicle developed with local partner BAIC Motor Corp. — is a “retaliatory strike,” the joint venture said in a post published to its official Weibo account on Wednesday.

“It’s not that BAIC-Hyundai can’t do EVs, but if we do it, we want to do it right,” said Xiao Han, a representative for the company who hosted a livestream on Wednesday that introduced the Elexio.

BMW AG’s earnings declined less than expected in the first quarter as electric vehicle sales in Europe helped buoy the German carmaker amid slumping demand in China and the threat of US tariffs.

Earnings before interest and tax came in at €3.14 billion ($3.6 billion), a 23% drop from last year, the German manufacturer said Wednesday. BMW’s carmaking margin was 6.9%, better than the 5.8% average analyst forecast compiled by Bloomberg.

Shares rose as much as 3.7% in early trading. The stock is still down roughly 25% over the past year.

Investors pulled $8.9 billion out of US equities while sending $7.8 billion to foreign stocks in the week ending April 30, according to Bank of America.

Gold and US Treasury bonds also saw outflows while cryptocurrencies, high yield bonds and technology shows had inflows.

BofA’s private clients held 62% of their portfolio in stocks, 20% in bonds and 12% in cash.

German factory orders rose more than predicted in March, signaling improvement in the run-up to the US tariff announcements that have clouded the outlook for Europe’s largest economy.

Demand increased 3.6% from February, beating the median 1.3% estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Without major orders, the gauge was up 3.2%, the statistics office said Wednesday.

The boost was widespread, with electrical and transport equipment, machinery, automotives and pharmaceuticals all contributing.

BMW AG’s earnings plunged 23% in the first quarter as intense competition in China pushed sales in its biggest single market to a five-year low.

Earnings before interest and tax came in at €3.14 billion ($3.6 billion), the German manufacturer said Wednesday, the weakest first-quarter result since 2022. BMW’s carmaking margin declined to 6.9%.

German carmakers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz Group AG are struggling to reclaim market share in China as local brands led by BYD Co. dominate electric-vehicle sales and continue to push deeper into the luxury segment. BMW’s sales in China fell 17% in the first three months of the year, the worst first-quarter performance since 2020.

Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected rise in net profit but lowered its full-year sales growth forecast amid weaker sales of its blockbuster Wegovy weight loss drugs.

Sales of the company’s popular Wegovy obesity drug hit 17.36 billion Danish kroner over the period, slightly below the 18.51 billion Danish kroner anticipated by analysts.

For 2025, the company now sees sales growth of 13% to 21% at constant exchange rates, below the 16% to 24% previously forecast.

Hong Kong markets jumped over 2% to lead gains in Asia-Pacific after China’s central bank and financial regulators announced sweeping plans to cut key interest rates in an effort to shore up growth in the face of trade worries.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.07%, while China’s CSI 300 rose 1%.

Elsewhere, markets in the region were mostly higher after reports that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts this week.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.22% while the Topix rose 0.38%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.32% while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.7%.

Shein Group Ltd. and Temu saw double-digit sales declines in the week after they raised retail prices to cover the costs of increased US tariffs, an initial sign that Donald Trump’s punitive trade measures have taken a toll on the shopping platforms’ popularity.

Shein posted a 23% drop in observed US sales during the week of April 25 to May 1, compared to the prior seven days when the price increases hadn’t set in, according to Bloomberg Second Measure, which analyzes credit and debit card data.

PDD Holdings Inc.-owned Temu’s sales fell 17% in the same period, the data show. The sales drop seen by both online marketplaces contrasted with a sales surge in March and early April as consumers hoarded products from kitchenware to clothing in anticipation of upcoming price hikes.

The dollar may face a $2.5 trillion “avalanche” of selling as Asian countries unwind their stockpile of the world’s reserve currency, according to Stephen Jen.

Asian exporters and investors may have amassed an “extremely large” pile of dollars through the years, widening the region’s trade surplus with the US, Eurizon SLJ Capital’s Jen and Joana Freire wrote in a note on Wednesday.

As a US-led trade war deepens, some Asian investors might repatriate chunks of funds or ramp up levels of protection against a weakening dollar — potentially triggering an exodus from the world’s reserve currency.

The Hong Kong dollar’s funding costs plunged the most since 2008, as the monetary authority’s intervention to defend the currency peg helped boost liquidity in the financial system.

The one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate declined 58 basis points to 3.08% on Wednesday, the most since 2008, according to Bloomberg calculations. Easing interest rates will help reduce the appeal of purchasing the Hong Kong dollar and moderate appreciation pressure.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority stepped into the market to sell HK$129.4 billion ($16.7 billion) worth of local currency against the greenback in four intervention operations since Friday, after the Hong Kong dollar reached the strong end of its 7.75-7.85 per dollar trading band.

Chinese traders are scouring the globe for alternative sources of rapeseed, as tensions with Canada, their top supplier, risk choking imports of a key ingredient in animal feed.

Buyers have tapped exporters in Australia and India, according to people familiar with the matter, in a bid to replace Canadian purchases, which are subject to either tariffs or the threat of measures due to worsening trade relations between Beijing and Ottawa.

China has typically relied on the North American country for the bulk of its imports of rapeseed, known as canola in Canada, and the meal that’s derived from crushing the crop into a product that’s easily fed to livestock and fish.

Oil pushed higher after rallying more than 3% in the previous session as the US and China agreed to start trade negotiations, raising optimism that tensions between the world’s two biggest economies may ease.

Brent rose toward $63 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was near $60. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with Chinese officials in Switzerland later this week, the first confirmed discussions since President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs.

Oil has trended lower since late January due to escalating trade frictions and plans by OPEC+ to keep boosting idled supply. The decline in crude prices will likely lead to falling American shale output, according to Diamondback Energy Inc., the largest US independent oil producer in the Permian Basin.

Bitcoin rose alongside Asian stocks and a strengthening dollar after news that the US and China plan to hold trade talks.

The largest digital asset rose about 3.2% to top $97,500 on Wednesday morning in Singapore before paring gains, while second-ranked Ether climbed as much as 4.2%.

The rally followed news that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with the Chinese government this week in Switzerland, raising hopes that the world’s two largest economies can reach an agreement that may ease trade tensions.

Iron ore climbed as China reduced its policy rate and lowered the amount of cash lenders must keep in reserve, at the same time as Washington and Beijing agreed to trade talks.

Futures of the steel-making staple rose as much as 2.4% as China’s central bank chief and other top officials announced the easing measures, ramping up efforts to help the economy caught in a trade war with the US.

Iron ore prices have taken a hit over the last few months as tariff turmoil has hurt macroeconomic sentiment at a time when demand for the product in China has been slowing. The market is also bracing for a looming oversupply problem, with analysts predicting prices could drop as low as $80 a ton toward the end of the year.

Chinese stocks rose as the central bank cut interest rates to support the economy, and as senior officials agreed to hold trade talks with the US later this week.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose more than 2% early on Wednesday. The CSI 300 Index, a benchmark for onshore shares, advanced as much as 1.5%.

China reduced its policy rate and lowered the amount of cash lenders must keep in reserve at a press briefing attended by the People’s Bank of China’s governor and other key officials. That came just hours after Washington and Beijing confirmed trade discussions will start this weekend, setting the stage for an easing of tensions after a monthlong standoff on tariffs.

China reduced its policy rate and lowered the amount of cash lenders must keep in reserve, as Beijing ramps up efforts to help an economy caught in a second trade war with the US.

The People’s Bank of China cut the seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 1.4% from 1.5%, according to Governor Pan Gongsheng. The central bank will also trim the reserve requirement ratio by half a percentage point, Pan said at a briefing on Wednesday, without specifying when that would be effective.

The steps aim to guide borrowing costs lower and are among the 10 measures outlined by Pan, which also include rate reductions on a slew of relending tools and and loans for policy banks. The RRR cut will release about 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion) in long-term liquidity, Pan said.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly climbed after reports that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts this week, in what could mark the beginning of potential negotiations over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.22% while the Topix rose 0.38%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.32% while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.7%.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 22,837, higher than its last close of 22,662.71.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will travel later this week to Switzerland for trade talks with China led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, jump-starting negotiations between the two nations.

The travel was announced in statements Tuesday from the Chinese and US governments. It will be the first confirmed trade talks between the countries since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs, led by punishing levies on China.

Bessent, in an interview on Fox News, said the talks Saturday and Sunday will center on deescalation rather than a big trade deal, “but we’ve got to deescalate before we move forward.”

Stocks took a leg down on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump played down the need for deals, saying he will set the terms of the deals and they will be signed if he wishes so.

The Dow Jones ended 400 points lower, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also saw cuts of close to 1% each on Tuesday.

Stock futures took a leg up after government spokespeople said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer would meet with their Chinese counterparts this week in Switzerland.

That can be taken as a positive sign for developments on trade negotiations after turbulent market action following President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement last month.

Futures on Wall Street are surging after the Trump Administration said that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer would meet their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland later this week.

Futures on the Dow Jones are up 280 points, while those on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 50 points and 200 points respectively.

Good Morning.

Yes, the focus is on the Indian Armed Forces launched precision missile strikes early Wednesday under ‘Operation Sindoor’, targeting nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), but we will also bring to you all the live global updates right here, ahead of the all important FOMC rate decision tonight.