Midday Fly By: Trump threatens China tariffs, Kalshi valued at $5B

Stocks advanced in early trading as markets looked set to cap off a week of gains despite the government shutdown dragging on with no end in sight. However, the averages took a turn for the worse and reversed hard after President Donald Trump said in a post to Truth Social that China is “becoming very hostile” on trade and the U.S. may need to pursue a “massive increase” of tariffs on imported Chinese products. The Dow and S&P were down about 1% each, while the Nasdaq was down nearly 2% near noon following the remarks reigniting trade worries.

Gold remains a standout theme. It recently vaulted past $4,000 an ounce and is now turning heads among asset allocators searching for hedges against policy missteps or macro surprises. That said, the rally in gold is now being questioned by some as overextended, with investors taking profits after a long sustained climb.

In energy, oil pulled back somewhat and the price of front-month crude fell below $60 per barrel as the ceasefire deal in Gaza softened geopolitical risk premiums, reducing one tailwind supporting the commodity, while Trump’s China comments added another potential headwind.

Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists. 

1. STOCK NEWS:

• Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority confirmed that legal tests have been met to designate Google (GOOGL) with strategic market status in general search and search advertising services
• Mosaic (MOS) announced preliminary Q3 segment volumes that prompted a pair of downgrades and for RBC to say it was “disappointed” in “another surprise phosphate production cut”
• Levi Strauss (LEVI) reported a “beat and raise” Q3, but Wells Fargo said it expects shares of the “crowded long idea” to give back some gains due to concerns around the near-term outlook
• Online prediction market operator Kalshi raised more than $300M in a new round of financing at a valuation of $5B
• China opened an antitrust probe into Qualcomm’s (QCOM) acquisition of Autotalk, CNBC reported

2. WALL STREET CALLS:

• Doximity (DOCS) downgraded to Underweight at JPMorgan
• JPMorgan upgraded NetEase (NTES) to Overweight on the company’s 2026 game pipeline
• Mosaic (MOS) downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital and Scotiabank
• Ciena (CIEN) upgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
• Align Technology (ALGN) downgraded to Hold at Jefferies

3. AROUND THE WEB:

• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) in talks to buy Protagonist Therapeutics (PTGX), WSJ reports
• China has stepped up the enforcement of its controls on chip imports, as Beijing seeks to wean the country’s technology companies away from U.S. products such as Nvidia’s (NVDA) AI processors, FT reports
• Morgan Stanley (MS) told its financial advisors on Friday that the firm was broadening access to crypto investments to all clients and allowing such investments in any type of account, CNBC says
• Fuzzy Panda Research says it is short drone company Red Cat (RCAT), telling investors in a research note that it believes management has been misleading investors
• Meta’s (META) Instagram is looking into constructing a dedicated TV app as part of a push into video, one that could get Instagram videos in front of more views and compete with Google’s (GOOGL) YouTube, Bloomberg reports

4. MOVERS:

• Bitfarms (BITF) gains in New York after converting Macquarie debt facility into a $300M project financing
• United States Antimony (UAMY) higher after announcing a $25M registered direct offering
• Tilray (TLRY) lower in New York after filing an automatic mixed securities shelf
• Venture Global (VG) falls after Mizuho downgraded the stock to Neutral
• Serve Robotics (SERV) declines after announcing a $100M direct offering

5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:

• Zeta Global (ZETA) provides guidance for FY25 revenue
• Apogee Enterprises (APOG) reported Q2 results and cut its guidance for FY26
• Elastic (ESTC) raised its guidance for FY26 nd Q2
• Park Aerospace (PKE) reported Q2 results, with EPS higher year-over-year
• iPower (IPW) reported Q4 results, with EPS lower year-over-year

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was down 0.87%, or 401.07, to 45,957.35, the Nasdaq was down 1.81%, or 416.68, to 22,607.95, and the S&P 500 was down 1.27%, or 87.85, to 6,649.52.