U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday as cooler-than-expected inflation data helped stanch a sharp selloff, while the escalation of U.S. President Donald Trump's chaotic, multi-front tariff war kept gains in check.

Inflation

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82.55 points, or 0.20%, to 41,350.93, the S&P 500 gained 27.23 points, or 0.49%, to 5,599.30 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 212.36 points, or 1.22%, to 17,648.45.

Market Movers

Steel makers rose after the Trump administration's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum went into effect on imports from Canada and other nations. Nucor rose 0.7%, U.S. Steel was up 2.7%, and Steel Dynamics gained 2.3%. Aluminum companies Alcoa and Century Aluminum were up 4% and 5.7%, respectively.

NVIDIA, meanwhile, rose 6.4%. The stock has declined 7.6% over the past month, with investors fearing Trump's tariff plans will drag down growth and trigger a flare-up of inflation, both of which could weigh on chip sales.

Tesla Motors was up 7.6%. The maker of electric vehicles closed up 3.8% Tuesday, clawing back some losses from the stock's swoon of 15% on Monday. President Donald Trump may have given the stock a lift as he said he would be buying a Tesla vehicle in defense of CEO Elon Musk, who has played an active role in the administration's Department of Government Efficiency. Musk, at an event Tuesday with Trump, said the company would double output in the United States within two years.

SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC rose 4% to $42.47. It closed Tuesday with a gain of nearly 11% and finished the session as the top-performing stock in the S&P 500. Shares of the maker of AI servers began to climb Monday after Rosenblatt Securities analyst Kevin Cassidy reinitiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and price target of $60.

Palantir Technologies Inc. gained 7.2%. The analytics software developer late Tuesday revealed a slate of new customers, including Walgreens Boots Alliance and Heineken. Louie DiPalma, an analyst at William Blair, said in a research note that the announcement "suggests that [ Palantir's] commercial momentum has continued," noting the company has guided for 31% revenue growth at a 45% operating margin this year.

Verizon declined 1.9%. Analysts at Wolfe Research downgraded shares of the telecommunications giant to Peer Perform from Outperform after Verizon said Tuesday at an investor presentation that it was experiencing " a challenging quarter from a competitive intensity standpoint."

U.S.-listed shares of Novo-Nordisk A/S fell 4.3% and Eli Lilly was down 0.3% after Swiss drugmaker Roche reached an agreement to co-develop a weight-loss treatment with Zealand Pharma. Roche will pay Zealand Pharma up to $5.3 billion under the licensing and development deal.

Casey's General gained 6.2% after the convenience store operator posted third-quarter profit that rose slightly from a year earlier and revenue jumped 17% to $3.9 billion, beating analysts' expectations. Casey's also raised its fiscal-year expectations for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to 11% growth, up from previous guidance of 10%.

Market News

Canada’s $21 Billion Counter-Tariffs Span Metals to Golf Balls

After US President Donald Trump imposed global tariffs on steel and aluminum, Canada on Wednesday revealed a list of retaliatory duties that apply to C$29.8 billion ($20.7 billion) of American goods — including ones used for Trump’s favorite pastime.

Canadian counter-tariffs on steel and aluminum account for C$15.6 billion of the new import controls, which apply until the US withdraws its 25% metal tariffs. It’s the second wave in Canada’s response after an initial reply to Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico hit C$30 billion of US goods, including whiskey and orange juice.

Wednesday’s new tariff schedule of 539 targets spans a gamut of other goods that reach beyond metals, from the mundane to the surprising.

Two apply to a hobby famously enjoyed by the tariff-advocating US president: golf balls and other golf equipment. The US is home to popular golf equipment manufacturers, including Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. and Acushnet Holdings Corp.’s Titleist.

Intel Appoints Chip Industry Veteran Lip-Bu Tan as CEO

Intel on Wednesday named former board member and chip industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as its CEO and signaled the struggling but storied chipmaker was unlikely to split up its chip-design and manufacturing operations.

The appointment, effective March 18, comes three months after Intel ousted CEO and company veteran Pat Gelsinger, whose costly and ambitious plan to turn the company around was faltering and sapping investor confidence.