Dow Jones Industrial Average tries to get off the mats on Wednesday

• The Dow Jones gained 300 points from Tuesday’s tumble.
• Equities remain tepid as investors hope for signs of easing trade war tensions.
• Services PMI figures beat the street, but ADP payrolls figures missed the mark.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) bounced from this week’s steep two-day plunge, recovering slim ground as investors try to prop the market back up. Equities took a hit after United States (US) President Donald Trump finally let his own tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China take effect, but investors are hoping for another round of concessions and delays to ease trade war pressures.

USD ADP Employment Change payroll changes came in far below expectations, showing far fewer new jobs in February than median market forecasts. ADP showed just 77K net new job additions in February, well below March’s revised print of 186K, and flubbing the forecast of 140K. Despite the downside print, not all hope is lost for this week’s Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) jobs report: the monthly ADP Employment Change has suffered a terrible run of non-correlation with NFP results ever since ADP changed their reporting and measurement methodology in 2022, so a bad or good print fails to signal much of anything at all.

Rumors are swirling that President Trump is all set to begin pivoting on his own tariff packages. The Trump administration is reportedly weighing a one month tariff exclusion for the entire automotive industry, and the ongoing cycle of talking tough but delay and concede looks set to continue in the near term.

Dow Jones news 

Most of the Dow Jones’ listed securities are testing into the high side on Wednesday, looking to stage a recovery following this week’s tariff-inspired weakness. Chevron (CVX) fell 1.8%, slipping below $150 per share after the Trump administration stripped away the energy conglomerate’s license to operate in Venezuela. Ostensibly, the Trump team feels Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has not done enough to reform the country’s electorate in the US’ image and is not generally willing to accept deported migrants who may or may not actually be Venezuelan.

Dow Jones price forecast

The Dow Jones managed to stop the bleeding this week, at least for now. Price action is battling it out to try and keep a foothold in the 43,000 level after catching a rough bounce from the 42,400 level.

The DJIA is dangerously close to making physical contact with the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) for the first time in over two years. However, the 200-day EMA is beginning to show signs of slowing, which could give bidders a chance to gather their feet beneath them and carry on the trend of outrunning the key moving average.

Dow Jones daily chart