Stock Market Live May 7: China Trade Talks Are On, S&P 500 (VOO) Rises

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer will begin trade talks with Chinese negotiators in Switzerland this weekend, and the news has sparked an immediate rally in the stock market. The S&P 500 index turned green at the open this morning, up a modest 0.4%, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) opened 0.3% higher. 

The Fed is also meeting this week to discuss a potential interest rate cut (or hike, or nothing). Odds favor nothing this month, however, so Fed action is unlikely to affect stock market performance much. Albeit, Fed commentary on what its future actions might be, might affect the market. 

In fact, for a change, actual earnings news might have greater effect on stock performance today.

Earnings

Take The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) for example. Disney just crushed earnings forecasts this morning, reporting $1.45 per share in adjusted earnings where analysts were looking for only $1.20. The company also raised its forecast for the year, predicting it will close 2025 with $5.75 per share earned.

Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) reported 19% sales growth in Q1, but cut its full-year forecast to a range of from 13% to 21% sales growth. More importantly, the maker of GLP-1 diet drugs said it expects to see Wegovy sales grow nicely in the second half of the year.

And in a report that could have implications for the restaurants sector, commercial oven-maker Middleby (Nasdaq: MIDD) beat earnings by $0.10 per share today, reporting $2.08 per share in profit. On the downside, Middleby’s sales came in below expectations.

Also beating expectations this morning is auto parts maker BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA). Despite tariffs worries, Borg also gave positive guidance for both sales and earnings later this year.

Analyst Calls

Also helping to give the stock market a lift today are a couple of analyst calls. Bank of America upgraded Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) to buy for example, citing Q1 sales “10% above our forecast” and saying the semiconductors company has the “potential to deliver 20%+ topline growth in CY25E and CY26E.”

Elsewhere in the market, BofA also upgraded Honeywell (NYSE: HON) to buy, calling the industrials stock “one of the most discounted names in our coverage.”

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