President Donald Trump escalated his trade war, imposing new tariffs on Brazil and announcing fresh duties on copper imports.

Global stocks advanced on Thursday, underpinned by optimism around artificial intelligence and the prospect of upcoming interest rate cuts, while investors kept a cautious eye on U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff actions and their impact on global trade.

Scavino is the third top official who, along with two others, sold Trump Media stock with the combined value of up to $10 million before tariffs news

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he planned to hit Brazil with a 50% tariff, in part due to the treatment of its former president and his political ally, Jair Bolsonaro.

The U.S. dollar was steady on Thursday after retreating from a two-week high versus major peers, as markets took U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff salvos in their stride, except in Brazil where a threatened 50% levy sent the real sliding.

The levy is the highest announced so far in Trump’s letters to world leaders this week, and comes after he wrote a lengthy message supporting the former Brazilian leader.

President Trump will wield 50% copper tariffs on August 1 as he promises more to come with countries such as Brazil in the crosshairs. Nvidia scores the first $4 trillion market cap milestone, lifting the Nasdaq to a record.

Weighed down by the impact from tariffs and trade-down behavior by consumers, Helen of Troy’s (NASDAQ:HELE) disappointing quarterly results drove shares down as much as 30% in Thursday’s premarket trading.