Wall Street up, Trump Media soars; ASX set to rise

US stocks are ticking higher, near their record levels, while Trump Media has made a sensational Wall Street debut.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2 per cent in afternoon trading, coming off a listless performance where it edged a bit further from its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones was up 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2 per cent higher. The Australian sharemarket is set to rise, with futures pointing to a gain of 5 points, or 0.1 per cent, at the open. The ASX lost 0.4 per cent on Tuesday.

Much of the heavy lifting for the market was courtesy of several Big Tech stocks. A 3.7 per cent rise for Tesla and a 1 per cent climb for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, were among the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward.

But several smaller companies were making some of the splashiest moves.

Trump Media & Technology Group was 48.7 per cent higher in early afternoon trade. It’s the first day of trading for the company under its new ticker, “DJT,” which are the initials of former President Donald Trump. The company took the place of a shell company that had been trading on the Nasdaq after the two merged.

The stock’s price has shot well beyond what several experts say is reasonable, driven by excitement about Trump’s latest run for the White House. Truth Social, the platform that’s the company’s main asset, is losing money and expects to continue to do so while competing against rivals with many more users.

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Krispy Kreme jumped 28.1 per cent, after it announced a deal where McDonald’s restaurants will sell its doughnuts across the country. It will begin later this year and hopes to be nationwide by the end of 2026.

Another food company, McCormick, was also helping to lead the market and climbed 10 per cent. The seller of spices, hot sauces and seasonings reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also said its business looks strong, with sales growth for the year looking to come in at the high end of its projections.