Dow Jones Industrial Average holds steady at the top end on Wednesday

• The Dow Jones treaded water on Wednesday, trading within 0.5% of the day's opening bids.
• Tech stocks continue to rule the risk sentiment roost, bolstering the S&P 500 toward record highs.
• Trump signals more trade tensions, now focused on Spain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) missed the bullish train on Wednesday, churning chart paper near the 43,000 major price handle as Dow traders ease into a lull after a tense start to the week. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell concluded the second of his two-day testimony before the Senate's financial oversight committee, keeping his commentary firmly on balance and on brand.

US President Donald Trump has turned his trade tariff focus onto Spain as he seeks to get ink to paper on any meaningful trade deals. Trump's self-imposed deadline before reciprocal tariffs kick back in is fast approaching. The Trump administration has thus far struggled to eke out any trade deals that would represent the windfall to the US economy that he promised in the run-up to April's "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariffs announcement, which were suspended for 90 days immediately after being announced.

Spain gets latest tariff threats

President Trump announced during his far-ranging comments at the NATO 2025 summit in The Hague that Spain would "pay twice as much", claiming that US delegates were actively negotiating with Spain. Trump also stated that he would negotiate with Spain directly and reiterated that "Spain is going to pay," implying that the Trump administration is still working to find a way to make foreign countries pay the import taxes on goods that cross into the US.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SP500) major equity index is within 1% of record highs, drawing investor focus as traders wait for meaningful developments in economic data or macro headline flows. Nvidia (NVDA), the de facto shovel-seller in the AI gold rush, is up over 3% on Wednesday and also within inches of all-time highs.

Read more stock news: Nvidia stock nears all-time high after Loop Capital hikes price target

Dow Jones price forecast

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tested its highest bids in three months this week, butr a near-term consolidation zone is keeping the major average pinned close to the 43,000 handle. The Dow has chalked in another bullish technical rejection of the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) near 41,800. However, top-side momentum could be due for a breather as technical oscillators test overbought territory.

Dow Jones daily chart