U.S. Stocks Wipe Out Early Gains as Traders Brace for U.S.-China Trade Talks

Holy volatility, Batman! U.S. stocks were riding high earlier in the day, but then traders got all jittery ahead of the big U.S.-China trade talks and poof! All those gains vanished into thin air.

Even with some glimmers of hope on the trade front, investors are still giving the side-eye. On May 9th, the major U.S. stock indices took a nosedive. The Dow Jones plummeted nearly 200 points, down 0.48%. The S&P 500 wasn't far behind, dropping 0.24%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.19%. Ouch!

Everyone's on the edge of their seats waiting for news from the U.S.-China trade talks. President Trump threw a curveball, saying he's ready to slash tariffs on Chinese goods to 80%. But get this - he's leaving the final call to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Talk about passing the buck!

Now, an 80% tariff is still sky-high for many exporters, but it's a step down from the insane 145% they were slapped with before. And here's the kicker: Trump's words are hinting at a chill-out vibe just before these make-or-break talks with China. If they play their cards right, they could knock down those reciprocal tariffs, because China's been hitting back with a whopping 125% on U.S. goods.

Strategy, Palantir, among the biggest losers, gold gains

In the tech world, Palantir took a beating, dropping 2.23% today. It's been a rough week, down 5% as investors are rethinking its lofty valuation. And Tuesday? Yikes! Shares tanked 12%, wiping out 35 million in market cap thanks to a dip in quarterly earnings.

Meanwhile, Strategy, the Bitcoin investment whiz, saw its shares fall 1.78% since the market opened. Weird, right? Especially since Bitcoin (BTC) was strutting its stuff with a 1.23% gain in the last 24 hours and a 5% surge over seven days.

But here's the kicker: with all this doom and gloom in the stock market, traders are flocking to gold like it's the new black. The precious metal shot up 1.16%, hitting $3,344 per ounce. Shine on, you crazy diamond!