Even a Supreme Court ruling might not spell the end of tariffs

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard a case on the Trump administration’s “reciprocal” tariffs, and both liberal and conservative judges appeared skeptical of the legal basis of those tariffs.

Following the hearing, traders on the prediction market Polymarket think there’s only a 26% chance that Trump’s tariffs will hold, down from roughly 50% a day ago.

Markets rose after the hearing, with major U.S. indexes rebounding from Tuesday’s losses. Still, the end of tariffs wouldn’t be an unequivocal win for stocks.

If the Supreme Court compels the White House to refund billions in collected duties — a move Wolfe Research said it doesn’t see “much of a legal argument for” — it would mire the U.S. government further in debt. In turn, Treasury yields are likely to rise — as they already did on Wednesday — which could put pressure on stocks.

Meanwhile, Trump could invoke other executive powers to reinstate his tariffs, causing further unpredictability for businesses and markets.

“Uncertainty and unusual have been the two marquee words of 2025,” said Mitchell Goldberg, head of ClientFirst Strategy. “If the Supreme Court rules against the administration, I don’t think it’s the end of the road for tariff policy, it’s just another bump in the road.”

— CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.

U.S. Supreme Court appears skeptical that Trump tariffs are legal. During Wednesday’s hearing, justices questioned the Trump administration’s method for enacting the tariffs, which critics say infringes on the power of Congress to tax. Here’s what could happen next.

Private jobs in U.S. grew 42,000 in October. That figure, which is provided by payrolls processing company ADP, beat the Dow Jones consensus estimate for an increase of 22,000.

Snap beats revenue expectations and lifts guidance. The company also announced a $500 million stock buyback and a partnership with Perplexity AI, which “will integrate its conversational search directly into Snapchat.” Shares of Snap popped 15.5% in extended trading.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday. Tech stocks such as AMD, Broadcom and Micron Technology advanced, rebounding from Tuesday’s losses. The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.23%, but Novo Nordisk shares fell after the company lowered its growth outlook.

[PRO] Bitcoin ‘whales’ may be selling. In contrast to those “whales” — which refers to wallets that hold large amount of bitcoin — smaller ones have increased their holdings, a Citigroup analyst said. This dynamic could have implications on bitcoin’s price.

Amazon upheaval: With morale shaken, Jassy looks for next big play after mass layoffs

Andy Jassy, who took the helm of Amazon from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021, has embarked on a major overhaul of the company’s corporate culture in recent years, including a hard pivot back to in-office work and a push for employees to do more with less.

The starkest example came last week, when Amazon announced it would lay off about 14,000 corporate employees. Jassy has been searching for Amazon’s next opportunity, or “pillar,” for growth after e-commerce, cloud and its Prime membership program. 

— Annie Palmer