(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 17 apr - US shares opened mixed as investors digested news of progress in trade talks with Japan and a flurry of earnings reports.

Wall Street slumped yesterday on tech selling triggered by Nvidia losses. The AI chip giant revealed it would be booking a charge of 5.5 billion dollars tied to export curbs to China. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is visiting Beijing today.

Trump's zigzagging tariff policy remains the key catalyst as countries line up to negotiate trade deals with Washington.

In a post on Truth Social overnight, Trump said he had met with Japan's trade delegation and said 'Big Progress!' had been made.

Investors are increasingly concerned tariffs and an escalating trade war with China could rekindle inflationary pressure and tip the US economy into recession.

Yesterday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said there was a 'strong likelihood' the economy would take a hit from the trade tariffs, putting at risk its goals of keeping prices and unemployment in check.

In a post today Trump ramped up his criticism of Powell saying the end of his tenure as chair "cannot come fast enough".

On the stocks front, shares in UnitedHealth Group were down more than 17% in early trade dragging down the Dow after the health insurer cut its annual profit forecast on higher costs.

Shares in car rental group Hertz meanwhile jumped 26.6% after activist hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman revealed he had a significant stake.

Netflix is due to update on its quarterly results after the close.

Just after the opening bell the Dow Jones was down 481.52 points, or 1.21%, at 39,187.87, the S&P 500 was up 18.43 points, or 0.35%, at 5,294.13, while the Nasdaq was up 90.92.

points, or 0.56%, at 16,398.08.

(RADIOCOR) 17-04-25 15:40:32 (0541) 5 NNNN