US STOCKS-Wall St edges up after Trump's China remarks; regional bank worries in focus

Fifth Third Bancorp

17/10/2025 17:41

Indexes up: Dow 0.52%, S&P 500 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.23%

Trump says 100% tariffs on China not sustainable

Eli Lilly falls after Trump vows weight-loss drug price cut

Updates with mid-morning prices

By Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes nudged higher in volatile trading on Friday as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump's latest remarks on China, while a fresh round of earnings temporarily eased concerns over credit risks at regional banks.

Trump said he would meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea, adding that his proposed 100% tariff on goods from China would not be sustainable.

"The market doesn't really know what to take when Donald Trump speaks," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

"There's just a lot of back and forth comments with regards to China and trade tariffs and pretty much everything else. It's very difficult to have a solid understanding and to get confidence when the president speaks about anything."

Meanwhile, most regional bank stocks stabilized from a brutal selloff that had extended from the previous session when Zions Bancorporation ZION.O disclosed losses tied to two commercial and industrial loans and Western Alliance WAL.N revealed it had initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group V, LLC.

The selloff brought back concerns over lax lending standards in a sector already grappling with two auto bankruptcies, more than two years after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

The KBW regional banks index .KRX was up 1.2%, rebounding from Thursday's drop of 6.3%, its biggest since early April.

The broader S&P financial index .SPSY ticked up 0.8%.

Truist Financial TFC.N shares gained 4%, after the bank reported higher third-quarter profit. Fifth Third Bancorp FITB.O rose 1.7%. Zions shares added 3.8%, while Western Alliance advanced 2.4%.

Robust earnings from big U.S. banks this week have set an upbeat tone for the start of the third-quarter reporting season. But with elevated equity valuations, investors are treading cautiously.

At 12:07 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 239.04 points, or 0.52%, to 46,191.28. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 22.37 points, or 0.34%, to 6,651.44, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC advanced 51.84 points, or 0.23%, to 22,614.37.

The main U.S. indexes were on track to register weekly gains, if current levels hold.

The CBOE volatility index .VIX, investors' fear gauge, dropped to 23.3 points, after hitting its highest in nearly six months at 28.99 earlier in the day.

AI-related tech stocks, which were among the biggest contributors in propelling equities to record highs this year, slipped in the day.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX dropped 0.6%, with Broadcom AVGO.O and Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O down 2% and 1%, respectively.

The S&P 500 consumer staples index .SPLRCS gained 1.2%.

Eli Lilly LLY.N fell 3.1% after Trump said he would bring down prices of weight-loss drugs.

State Street STT.N dropped 3.2% after the bank's third-quarter net interest income missed estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.21-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted five new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 23 new highs and 91 new lows.

 (Reporting by Sukriti Gupta, Medha Singh and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

 ((Sukriti.Gupta@thomsonreuters.com))