4:15pm: Stocks in the green
Wall Street wrapped up Tuesday on a positive note, with all the major indexes notching solid gains.
The Dow Jones climbed 105 points to finish at 42,867, up 0.3%. The S&P 500 added 33 points to close at 6,039, while the Nasdaq jumped 124 points, ending the day at 19,715—both up 0.6%. Even the Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, joined the rally with a 12-point rise to 2,156, also up 0.6%.
The across-the-board gains reflect growing investor confidence and strong momentum in the markets.
3:20pm: Proactive news headlines
- Northern Superior Resources Inc. extended a high-grade gold discovery at its Philibert project in Quebec with strong new drill results.
- Abacus Global Management firmly denied claims from a short-seller report, defending the integrity of its asset valuation methods.
- MustGrow Biologics Corp. entered a deal to distribute Phospholutions’ phosphorus efficiency technology, RhizoSorb, in Canada.
- Ideal Power Inc. announced a distribution partnership with Kaimei Electronic to expand its reach across Asia.
- First Phosphate Corp. received a “Met” rating from the U.S. Defense Department for a proposal securing North American phosphate supply for LFP batteries.
- Midnight Sun Mining Corp. appointed Adrian Karolko as VP of Exploration, bringing nearly two decades of global experience to the role.
- IXICO PLC shares rose after it confirmed its imaging role in the first FDA-approved blood test for Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
- ANGLE PLC reported new research highlighting the role of its Parsortix device in understanding cancer spread and treatment targeting.
- FireFly Metals Ltd secured A$95 million in commitments to accelerate development of its Green Bay copper-gold project in Newfoundland.
- Livium Ltd began engaging with rare-earth element extraction developers to grow its recycling-focused business amid rising global REE demand.
- Anteris Technologies Pty Ltd appointed two new independent directors following a board resignation, strengthening its leadership team.
- Solis Minerals Ltd announced plans to delist from the TSX Venture Exchange and focus on its ASX listing to simplify operations and cut costs.
2:30pm: Stocks on the move
- eToro Group Ltd shares fell as increased marketing and growth spending reduced its first-quarter profits in its debut as a public company.
- Insmed Incorporated shares surged over 27% after its Phase 2b trial for a pulmonary hypertension treatment met all efficacy endpoints.
- Northern Superior Resources Inc. reported high-grade gold drill results at its Philibert project, extending a key discovery zone.
- JM Smucker shares dropped more than 13% after it reported a 3% decline in Q4 revenue, missing Wall Street expectations.
- Gilead Sciences Inc. fell up to 4% after the FDA placed clinical holds on trials for two of its experimental HIV drugs.
- MustGrow Biologics Corp. signed a distribution deal with Phospholutions to bring RhizoSorb phosphorus technology to Canada.
- IXICO PLC rose 9% after confirming its imaging role in the first FDA-approved blood test for Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
- Novo Nordisk gained 3% as activist investor Parvus Asset Management began building a stake in the company.
1:35pm: US oil output seen falling in 2026
US crude oil production is set to decline in 2026 for the first time since 2021, according to a government forecast released Tuesday.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) now projects output will dip to 13.37 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2026, down from 13.42 million bpd expected in 2025 – a downward revision of 120,000 bpd from the agency’s previous outlook published in May.
Read more here.
12:45pm: Inches ahead
Stocks are inching higher at midday as investors keep a close eye on the ongoing US-China trade negotiations, now in their second day in London.
The Nasdaq is leading midday gains, up 0.4%, the S&P 500 is also up 0.4%, and the Dow Jones is inching ahead by 0.1%.
Market sentiment remains cautious as traders look for signs of progress, particularly on issues like US access to China’s rare earth minerals—critical for the tech and defense sectors. Until more concrete updates emerge from the talks, investors appear content to tread lightly.
Energy stocks are among the session’s standouts, lifted by rising oil prices amid renewed hopes for a trade breakthrough.
In corporate news, Disney shares are moving higher after the entertainment giant announced it had acquired full ownership of Hulu, bolstering its streaming strategy. Meanwhile, JM Smucker is weighing on the S&P 500 after reporting weaker-than-expected sales and offering a cautious outlook.
For now, Wall Street is cautiously optimistic, with eyes firmly fixed on the negotiating table in London.
12:00pm: Meta deepens AI push
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB) has agreed to invest $15 billion for a 49% stake in data-labeling startup Scale AI, according to multiple reports Tuesday.
The move marks one of the tech giant’s largest strategic bets to accelerate its artificial intelligence ambitions.
The deal, which values San Francisco-based Scale AI at around $30 billion, will give Meta significant access to the company’s data-labeling infrastructure without triggering antitrust scrutiny, according to the report.
As part of the agreement, Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang is expected to take a top role within Meta’s newly established AI research lab focused on "superintelligence," according to reporting from The New York Times.
Read more here.
11:25am: Morgan Stanley casts wider net for $5bn xAI debt sale
Morgan Stanley is expanding its investor outreach to secure demand for a $5bn debt raise for Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI.
The effort follows slower-than-expected momentum after an initial surge in interest last week. Though early orders totalled $3.5bn, the deal has yet to be oversubscribed, prompting the bank to approach smaller lenders.
The sale, which includes both fixed- and floating-rate loans alongside senior secured notes, comes as tensions between Musk and Trump rattle parts of Musk’s business empire.
Some lenders, previously drawn to Musk’s ties with Trump, are now cautious following public hostilities.
xAI, recently merged into XAI Holdings with Musk’s social media platform X, has seen its valuation nearly double to $94bn since late 2024.
10:40am: Yields steady as CPI looms
With a light US economic calendar today, investor attention is fixed on trade news and the upcoming CPI report, which is expected to show rising inflation due to higher tariffs.
The US 2-year Treasury yield is steady near 4%, while the 30-year yield is weaker ahead of a crucial auction.
There are concerns about whether the nearly 5% yield on 30-year bonds will attract enough buyers, especially as many investors prefer shorter maturities amid fiscal uncertainty. A poor auction could push long-term borrowing costs higher and reignite worries about the US debt situation, potentially boosting demand for alternative assets even if risk sentiment remains positive.
As Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank, notes: "Positive trade headlines could help offset any negative surprises in tomorrow’s inflation print, which is expected to reflect mounting price pressures in the US—partly due to higher tariff-related costs."
9.55am: Dow down, Nasdaq inches up
It's a mixed open for Wall Street, with the blue-chip Dow Jones down 0.1%, the small-cap Russell 2000 up 1.1%, while the S&P 500 has inched up 0.1% and the Nasdaq 0.2%.
Top risers on the Nasdaq include Applovin, Regeneron Pharma and Tesla, all up between 1% and 2%.
Biggest faller in the S&P 500 is packaged food maker JM Smucker, as its outlook included an annual profit below current Street estimate.
Alphabet shares are up 1.3% following news that OpenAI has selected Google for a new cloud computing agreement.
8am: US futures flat as China talks continue
US stock futures were doggedly flat in the run-up to Wall Street's opening bell on Tuesday as traders sat on their hands amidst the sound of silence from China trade talks and ahead of key inflation data later in the week.
Dow Jones futures were down 0.035%, while those for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were also pointing to modest drops.
This followed a performance at the start of the week that was nothing to write home about, with the Dow just below flat, the S&P 500 adding five points to its 6,000 mark and the Nasdaq rising 0.3%.
US-China trade talks in London have resumed for a second day, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick telling reporters that the talks are expected to last all day.
Lutnick said yesterday that the talks have been "fruitful", while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said they were "making progress" and President Donald Trump said he was getting "good reports" as the two sides "aren’t even talking tariffs – they are talking tech and rare earths".
Market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth said the key events this week are the CPI and PPI inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday respectively and he expects "the churn to continue as we wait for any news out of London".
Comments out of China, he added, "seem to contradict" what Bessent and Lutnick have been telling President Trump and in their interviews.
"China is not so sure that the talks are as ‘peachy’ as [Lutnick] suggested, so as you might expect that just leaves us in limbo.
"And what happened to trade talks with all the other countries? Is that all settled? Hardly, but no one seems to be talking about it any longer. Nothing about the EU, nothing about India, or South Korea or Japan. China talks are sucking the air out of the room – are we to assume that everyone else is ‘ok’?"
Elsewhere, the headline NFIB small business optimism index recovered to 98.8 in May, up from 95.8 and above the consensus forecast of 96.0.
The jump broke four straight monthly declines, with economists noting that this echoed messages from other surveys that business sentiment has picked up after the lows in the immediate aftermath of President Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement.
Oil prices were also climbing, with WTI crude up 0.6% to $65.7 a barrel, its highest in over a month.
Gold also remains bid, up 0.2% at $3,332 an ounce.