Medora Lee, USA TODAY

Thu, May 29, 2025, 4:05 AM4 min read

U.S. stocks ended higher after a back-and-forth day for President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs.

Stocks started strong after the Federal Court of International Trade blocked Trump's reciprocal tariffs, saying he overstepped his authority, but gave up some of those gains around midday as investors remained uncertain about the fate of the tariffs. Some experts said Trump would likely find a path to get his tariffs passed.

The Justice Department quickly filed an appeal. The appeals court said it would allow the tariffs to stand while the White House works through the appeals process. Ultimately, the Supreme Court could end up deciding the case.

The blue-chip Dow rose 0.28%, or 117.03 points, to 42,215.73; the broad S&P 500 gained 0.4%, or 23.62 points, to 5,912.17, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.39%, or 74.93 points, to 19,175.87. The benchmark 10-year yield dipped to 4.432%.

Meantime, Kevin Hassett, White House economic adviser, said three trade deals were nearly done and he expected more despite the judgment.

Separately, the U.S. economy shrank 0.2% in the first three months of the year, acording to the government. That was smaller than the 0.3% decline originally reported.

The economy "will likely either contract again in the second quarter or hold in low gear, but the economy is unlikely to slip into recession," said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. "Growth should pick up in the second half of the year as the economic narrative refocuses away from tariff hikes and toward tax cuts."

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met with Trump at the White House, where Trump told Powell he was making a mistake by not cutting interest rates. The Fed has been on a wait-and-see mode when it comes to interest rate moves partly because of the uncertainty due to tariffs.

Nvidia's results from the first three months of its fiscal year topped analysts' estimates, even with U.S. export curbs on China.

"In our view, Nvidia remains the premier artificial intelligence stock and the dominant leader in GPUs." said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. Nvidia shares rose 3.25%.

GPUs, or graphics processing units, are processors that handle complex calculations needed to render images and videos, especially those with 3D graphics.

However, the company warned the export curbs may cut $8 billion from current-quarter sales, causing its second-quarter forecast to miss expectations.

• Boeing Chief Executive 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. Ortberg also said Boeing would resume deliveries to China in June. Boeing stock gained 3.32%.

• Best Buy posted better-than-expected results in the first three months of its fiscal year but lowered its full-year outlook due to Trump's tariffs raising prices of imported electronics. Shares of the retailer slumped 7.27%.

• Tesla chief executive Elon Musk confirmed he's leaving his role in the U.S. government this week. The electric vehicle maker's shares rose fractionally.

• Kohl's department store chain topped estimates in the first three months of the year but fired its chief executive. Shares lost 1.05%.

• HP cut its full-year profit forecast. Shares dropped 8.57%.

• E.l.f. Beauty said it will buy Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode for $1 billion. The E.l.f. shares soared 23.58%.

• C3.ai's results in the last three months of its fiscal year topped analysts' forecasts. Shares jumped 20.76%.

• Salesforce topped Street predictions for fiscal first-quarter results. The sales and customer service software maker also boosted its full-year outlook. Shares slid 3.3%.