Among the strongest performers, Thermo Fisher Scientific rose 12%, topping the leaderboard for large-cap stocks, followed by T-Mobile US, up 9%.

Stocks rose Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. had reached a trade deal with Japan, lifting hope for further agreements being made.

Chinese and most European indexes rose, and Japan’s TOPIX hit a record high, on trade optimism. Are 15% tariffs the new benchmark for trading with the U.S.? WSJ’s Kim Mackrael discusses. Plus, Tesla’s profit plunges as EV sales continue to drop,

President Trump will get to decide where to invest Japanese money and the United States will keep 90 percent of the profits, the White House said.

President Trump has announced a flurry of trade deals that will relieve some pressure on companies and consumers from sharply higher tariffs on imports from Japan and a handful of other Asian countries.

While recession odds have been dialed back in recent weeks, economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal still see 33% odds of one coming within a year, compared with 22% at the start of 2025. Meanwhile, earnings estimates for the S&P 500 compiled by research group FactSet are 3% lower since then, the Journal said.

South Korea's top trade negotiators met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, with both sides reaffirming their intention to reach a tariff deal.