4:15pm: Quiet close
Wall Street wrapped up Tuesday on a quieter note, with the major indexes taking a bit of a breather after their recent run-ups. Investors seemed to be in a wait-and-see mood, digesting the latest round of earnings and keeping an eye on ongoing trade policy headlines.
The Dow Jones finished the day down 156 points, or 0.4%, closing at 40,367. The S&P 500 slipped 9 points, or 0.2%, to end at 5,397. The Nasdaq barely budged, losing just 8 points to settle at 16,823. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, was basically flat—up just 1 point at 1,882.
Overall, it was a pretty subdued session compared to the ups and downs we’ve seen lately. Most of the big companies reporting earnings today met or even beat expectations, but investors are still a bit cautious, especially with all the uncertainty around trade policy and possible new tariffs.
On the bond side, things were calm, with the 10-year Treasury yield holding steady after last week’s volatility. Everyone’s still watching for any signals from the Federal Reserve or the White House that could shake things up.
Looking ahead, the market’s next moves will likely depend on more earnings reports and any new developments on the trade front. For now, though, it seems like investors are content to take a breather and see what happens next.
3:43pm: 'Death cross'
LPL Financial is downplaying the ominous-sounding “death cross” that recently appeared in the S&P 500, noting that history suggests the signal may be more benign than it seems. The pattern, marked by the 50-day moving average falling below the 200-day average, occurred this month for the first time since March 2022 following a sharp market pullback.
While the death cross can flag weakening momentum and has preceded major downturns in the past — including in 2022, 2018, 2007, and 2000 — LPL notes that markets have often recovered in the aftermath. Since 1950, the S&P 500 has posted an average 12-month gain of 6.3% and a median return of 10.5% following such events, with stocks rising 72% of the time.
Returns are even stronger when the market has already suffered a steep decline. In cases where the index dropped 15% or more within a month of the death cross, average one-year gains jumped to 16%, with positive returns in 10 out of 12 instances.
3:06pm: Stocks on the move
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE, ETR:2HP) shares were up nearly 4.3% on Tuesday afternoon after it attracted a more than $1.5 billion investment from activist hedge fund Elliott Investment Management.
Shares of Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) fell 32% on Tuesday after the company reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results and announced plans to exit its cloud services business.
1:55pm: Dow, Pepsi downgraded
A couple of big analyst downgrades to report today, both from Bank of America.
Analysts downgraded PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP, ETR:PEP) to a ‘Neutral’ rating citing the company’s prolonged turnaround of Frito-Lay North America as a drag going into a potential recession.
The analysts also lowered their price target to $155 from $185. Shares traded down 1.8% at $144 in the early afternoon on Tuesday.
As well, Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was downgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Buy’ after analysts pointed to a “perform storm” for the chemicals producer amid a deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop, rising feedstock costs, and new trade barriers.
They also reduced their price target to $28 from $44. Shares traded hands at $28, down 2.9%, on Tuesday afternoon.
12:47pm: Investors cheer earnings
Stocks are ticking higher at midday, building on Monday’s rebound as upbeat earnings and tariff headlines keep investors on their toes.
The Dow is up 0.2%, the S&P 500 has climbed 0.4%, and the Nasdaq is leading with a 0.5% gain.
Strong bank earnings—especially from Bank of America, which beat expectations thanks to solid trading revenue and net interest income—are lifting sentiment, while tech and financials are today’s standout sectors.
That said, Boeing is slipping after reports that China has paused new aircraft deliveries from the US. And even with the rally, uncertainty around tariffs and shifting Treasury yields are keeping investors cautious.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, there’s a 17% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points at its early May meeting, while markets are betting on a 72% likelihood of at least one rate cut by June.
"The market’s pricing in three 25-basis point rate cuts this year, but if inflation moves higher or proves to be sticky, we believe three cuts is aggressive," said Cooper Howard, director, fixed income strategy, at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.
12:03pm: March import prices decrease
Import prices declined 0.1% in March, surprising investors who expected a rise ahead of official tariff announcements.
February's figure was also revised lower, from 0.4% to 0.2%.
The breakdown showed mixed results for finished goods: aircraft and parts rose, but auto prices fell for a fourth straight month. Consumer goods, particularly household items, dropped 0.2% for the second consecutive month.
Despite looming trade policy shifts, slower global growth appears to be easing inflationary pressures, noted Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial.
"Yields remain below last week’s highs as investors anticipate President Trump will announce further alterations to his trade policy, including some temporary exceptions for the auto industry," Roach added.
11:30am: Tuesday's headlines
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) shares gained almost 4% in early trade on Tuesday as it reported an 11% year-over-year surge in profit for the first quarter.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported its first quarter earnings, with both revenue and profit beating Wall Street expectations driven by strong sales in its oncology portfolio, especially the multiple myeloma drug Darzalex.
Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) shares moved higher as the bank reported profits and revenue above expectations for the first quarter.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD, ETR:AMD) will soon begin manufacturing its key processor chips in the United States for the first time, using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) new Arizona facility.
10:50am: Concerns over economic fallout
Analysts suggest Trump may be responding to pressure from corporate leaders and concerns over the economic fallout of his trade policies.
"The US stock market seems set to recover as hopes that Donald Trump will refrain from taking further escalation in the trade war, particularly with China, since late last week," said Samer Hasn, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com.
"Furthermore, the introduction of broad tariff waivers for technology companies has provided some relief to markets.
"There are several potential factors that could push Trump to back down, such as pressure from CEOs of major companies—including those who contributed to his campaign—or his realization of the seriousness of the consequences of his trade plans."
9:50am: Stocks open higher
US stocks opened higher on Tuesday, fuelled by hopes of more rowing back on tariffs from Donald Trump.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose over 0.5% in initial trading, with the Dow Jones climbing 0.4%. The Russell 2000 was up 0.2% having been the strongest performer the day before.
The VIX 'fear gauge' was down almost 4% but still elevated at 29.76.
Among the tech titans, Apple shares started 0.5% lower, with Alphabet, Amazon and Meta in the red.
Nvidia rose over 1%, while Microsoft edged higher and Tesla was flat.
Top of the S&P 500 leaderboard was Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, up 6.3% on news that activist Elliott Investment Management has built a position worth more than $1.5 billion.
Bank of America Corp rose almost 4% on the back of earnings.
8am: Dow Jones and S&P indicated higher on tariff reversal hopes
US futures are pointing to a slight retreat on Tuesday, reversing some of the gains in the previous session, while gains on European markets have been trimmed in the past couple of hours.
Futures for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 are both down 0.3%, while for the Nasdaq they are down 0.25%.
The prior session saw the Dow and S&P both rise 0.8%, while the Nasdaq added 0.6%.
Apple is down 1.3% pre-market, with Tesla down 0.7% and Nvidia slightly higher.
In the Europe session on Tuesday, markets are being led higher by automakers, including Jeep and Dodge maker Stellantis, BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler.
The moves followed comments from Donald Trump, who said he is “looking at something” to support car companies with tariffs.
Josh Mahony, market analyst at Scope Markets, said: “This serves to double down on the weekend narrative that Trump will reverse some of his tariffs once company execs approach him to highlight the huge negative implications of his actions.”
The dollar index has found some support at 99.84, still around three-yer lows, with the dollar down against the British pound but up versus the euro. Gold is holding tight near highs, while oil is down 0.9% at just under $61.
President Trump's social media posts this morning are few and far between, but included a celebration of Nvidia's announcement from Monday that it will invest up to $500 billion on AI infrastructure in the US within the next four years.
Nvidia said it is building two new manufacturing plants in Texas in partnership with contract manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron, where it expects to mass-produce supercomputers at those sites in 12 to 15 months.
"This is very big and exciting news. All necessary permits will be expedited and quickly delivered to NVIDIA, as they will to all companies committing to be part of the Golden Age of America," the President said on his social media platform.