Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) closed solidly in positive territory after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in President Trump’s high-stakes tariff case amid a surge of optimism over the government reopening.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
Trump’s legal team faced challenging questions about his authority for imposing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a provision that never explicitly mentions the word “tariff.”
“It’s a congressional power, not a presidential power, to tax. And you want to say tariffs are not taxes, but that’s exactly what they are,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. If the Supreme Court rules against Trump, the U.S. could be on the hook for nearly $90 billion, the amount of tariff revenue collected year-to-date, in refunds.
“It will be, in my opinion, one of the most important and consequential Decisions ever made by the United States Supreme Court,” wrote Trump in a Truth Social post. At the same time, the Trump administration may look to other laws to justify collecting tariffs, such as Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which gives the president the power to enforce tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days in order to correct balance of payment issues.
Meanwhile, the odds of the government reopening sooner than later surged on prediction platform Polymarket after House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Trump requesting a bipartisan meeting to address the shutdown. “Democrats stand ready to meet with you face to face, anytime and anyplace,” read the letter.
In other news, October’s ADP private payrolls surprised to the upside with 42,000 additions, higher than the consensus estimate of 30,000. That marked the first monthly increase since July and improved from a loss of 32,000 jobs in September. Fed Governor Stephen Miran described the report as a “welcome surprise,” although he reiterated that the labor market still faces challenges that could be addressed by another rate cut during the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Miran was the only voting FOMC member during the last two meetings to call for a 50 bps rate reduction.
The S&P 500 (SPX) closed with a 0.37% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) returned 0.72%.
Stay ahead of macro events with our up-to-the-minute Economic Calendar — filter by impact, country, and more.