WSJ What’s News - Markets Rebound After Signs Trading Partners Could Strike Deals With U.S.

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

Plus: BlackRock’s Panama Canal deal is dealt a blow by the country’s top auditor. And Ukraine says it has captured two Chinese citizens fighting for Russia. Anthony Bansie hosts.Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's your midday brief for Tuesday, April 8th. I'm Anthony Bansi for The Wall Street Journal. Investors took to heart some signs the U.S. could strike deals with major trading partners, even after Beijing said it was prepared for a prolonged battle over tariffs. Major U.S. indexes advanced more than 2% this morning, with the Dow rising 900 points. U.S. stocks rose sharply after treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration was open to reducing tariffs and could end up with some good deals. Later, US trade representative,

Jameson Greer said Trump won't provide tariff exemptions for individual products or companies. President Trump said he's taken a call with South Korea's acting president, Handuk Su. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said South Korea and others are ready to trade deals and said South Korea was sending a team to the U.S. to negotiate. Panama's top auditor has said that the Hong Kong-based C.K. Hutchinson owns hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid fees and failed to get the necessary clearance for two key Panama canal ports.

The findings have dealt a blow to plans by U.S. asset manager BlackRock to buy the ports as part of a $22.9 billion transaction. And Ukraine said today its military has captured two Chinese citizens fighting in the Russian army and it was seeking to understand whether their presence in eastern Ukraine represented an increase in Beijing's support for Moscow's war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the capture on social media. We'll have more coverage of the day's news on WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.