4:09pm: Wall Street gains
US stocks finished Tuesday’s session higher as investors brushed off Trump’s threats to Fed independence.
The Nasdaq led the gains, adding 0.4% at 21,544 points, the Dow Jones added 0.3% at 45,418 points and the S&P 500 was up 0.4% at 6,465 points.
3:58pm: Proactive news headlines
- Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NYSE-A:OPTT) announced that it has signed a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Unique Group, expanding its existing partnership in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- Power Metallic Mines Inc (TSX-V:PNPN, OTCQB:PNPNF) announced the appointment of Seamus O'Regan, Canada’s former Minister of Energy & Natural Resources, to its board of directors.
- Excellon Resources Inc (TSX:EXN, OTCQB:EXNRF) has announced a brokered private placement of up to 40 million common shares at C$0.20 per share, targeting gross proceeds of up to C$8 million.
- Excellon Resources Inc (TSX:EXN, OTCQB:EXNRF) has announced a brokered private placement of up to 40 million common shares at C$0.20 per share, targeting gross proceeds of up to C$8 million.
- Alvopetro Energy Ltd (TSX-V:ALV, OTC:ALVOF) announced initial production results from its recently-completed 183-D4 Murucututu well in Brazil, in which the company has a 100% working interest.
3:15pm: Market movers
- Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (NASDAQ:DJT) and Crypto.com have announced a strategic partnership that will integrate Crypto.com’s Cronos (CRO) cryptocurrency and digital wallet infrastructure into Trump Media’s platforms, including Truth Social and its streaming service Truth+, sending shares about 5% higher.
- Allarity Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALLR) shares more than doubled after the pharmaceutical firm announced that its investigational therapy for advanced ovarian cancer, stenoparib, has received Fast Track Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- Tilray Brands (NASDAQ:TLRY) shares continued to gain momentum on Tuesday after the cannabis firm saw its price target boosted by Jefferies analysts.
- EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) announced that it has agreed to sell a total of 50 megahertz (MHz) of nationwide wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T Inc (NYSE:T, ETR:SOBA) for about $23 billion in cash, sending EchoStar’s stock price up more than 80% in Tuesday trading.
- Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) shares moved higher Tuesday after the company reported positive late-stage trial results for its experimental oral obesity and diabetes drug, orforglipron.
- Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) (Scotiabank) announced on Tuesday third-quarter 2025 financial results that exceeded expectations, as Canada’s fourth-largest bank put aside less money for loan-loss provisions, sending the Canadian bank’s shares higher.
- Bank of Montreal (CSE:BMO) shares moved higher after it reported better-than-expected results for the fiscal third quarter, driven by growth in its wealth management and US personal and commercial banking units.
1:21pm: US eyes defense firms
The Trump administration is exploring the possibility of acquiring equity stakes in US defense companies, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday, following the government’s recent 10% stake in Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, ETR:INL).
“They’re thinking about it,” Lutnick told CNBC, citing Pentagon leaders, when asked whether the administration is considering stakes in contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT), Boeing Co (NYSE:BA, ETR:BCO), or Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR).
“There’s a lot of talking that needs to be had about how do we finance our munitions acquisitions,” he said.
Lutnick described discussions around the defense industry as “monstrous,” noting that firms like Lockheed Martin derive nearly all of their revenue from US government contracts and are, in effect, an extension of the federal government.
Lockheed Martin shares rose 1.6% following Lutnick’s remarks.
12:24pm: Consumer confidence steady
Consumer confidence remained largely range-bound in August at 97.4, following an upward revision to July’s reading from 97.2 to 98.7.
“Consumers are more or less in the same holding pattern where they have been all summer—leery of tariffs and the potential for higher prices yet not quite sure whether to feel relief that broad price spikes have not yet materialized,” Wells Fargo analysts wrote.
The current reading sits well above recessionary levels but remains far below the pre-pandemic highs above 120.
Expectations eased slightly to 131.2, while the present situation index fell for the third consecutive month, now standing at 131.2.
“Our sense is that consumers will only worry about tariffs in earnest when those levies begin to materially impact spending decisions,” Wells Fargo wrote.
The labor market remains a key concern, the analysts added.
“This is the linchpin to the consumer outlook, arguably more important than tariffs,” they wrote. “For now, the labor market will set the mood and at the moment it is not a particularly cheery one.”
11:57am: Cook ‘will not resign’
Fed governor Lisa Cook has refused to resign despite President Donald Trump's announcement that he has removed her from her position amid allegations of mortgage fraud.
"President Trump purported to fire me 'for cause' when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so," Cook said in a statement released by her attorney. “I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022."
Her attorney emphasized they will take all necessary measures to counteract what they view as an unlawful removal.
Trump on Monday said he has removed Cook from her position after members of his administration alleged she engaged in mortgage fraud related to the purchase of two properties.
"You are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately," Trump wrote in a letter to Cook, which he also shared online."I have determined there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position."
11:13am: Core capital goods orders top forecasts
Core capital goods orders showed a significant increase of 1.1% in July, following a revised 0.6% decline in June, indicating a strong start to the third quarter for business investment in equipment. This surpassed economists' expectations of a 0.2% rebound.
Alongside the increase in orders, shipments of non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft also recorded the largest rise in over two years.
Core shipments increased 0.7%, the biggest gain since April 2023, above expectations of a 0.2% increase.
“We doubt the revisions will provide any material lift to second quarter investment spending when the GDP revisions come out on Thursday, but the stronger orders number does suggest a brighter outlook for the third quarter,” Wells Fargo analysts noted.
Meanwhile, US durable goods orders in July declined 2.8% to $302.8 billion, marking the third drop in four months. This was less than the 4% decline expected by analysts.
“In terms of the outlook for business spending more broadly, today's durable goods report offered the first unambiguously positive signal in recent memory after months of bad headlines,” Wells Fargo wrote.
“Whether this is the start of the long-awaited re-shoring boom or merely a needed restocking after months of inventory drawdown remains to be seen, although we suspect the still-low ISM numbers (new orders at just 47.0) and cautionary tones in recent earnings reports suggests there are still some tough days ahead for durable goods industries.”
9:55am: US stocks open slightly lower
Wall Street has opened very slightly lower, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow all just below flat.
All but one of the Mag 7 are in red, with Nvidia roughly flat.
The biggest risers on the S&P are Eli Lilly, up 3.7%, followed by AMD and IBM.
7:40am: Dow Jones set for further reverse on Tuesday
US futures were in neutral gear ahead of the opening bell on Tuesday, held back by a spike in uncertainty after Donald Trump said overnight that he was dismissing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook.
Dow Jones futures were down 0.1%, while those for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both just below flat, down six and 26 points, respectively.
This would extend losses from Monday, when the Dow retreated 0.8% from Friday's all-time high amid new tariff threats from the White House and with caution the main mood ahead of a handful of potentially key events coming up this week.
Overnight, stock futures had dived and Treasury yields spiked, with the dollar sliding and gold prices rising after President Trump sent a letter saying there was "sufficient cause" to remove Cook based on allegedly false statements made on a mortgage application.
The President said he was removing Cook from her role as governor with immediate effect, though Cook said she had "no intention of being bullied to step down from my position".
Losses for the dollar index were mostly erased, with the dollar index down only 0.2%, though the price of gold remains up 0.3% at $3,378, though not much higher than levels seen at the end of last week, following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish speech at Jackson Hole.
US government bond yields rose overnight, with Deutsche Bank strategists saying the Treasury curve saw a "sizeable steepening", with the 2yr yield trading -0.7 basis points lower but the 10yr up 2.9bps and the 30yr up 4.5bps to 4.93%.
Skittish stock indices were reflective of the bond market's reaction to Trump and investor positioning ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday evening, says market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation.
With Powell speech last week suggesting the central bank was ready to loosen monetary policy, interpreted by the markets as a green light for rate cuts to start from next month’s monetary policy meeting, the probability of a September cut jumped from 71% before the speech to 91% immediately after, before pulling back to 84% today, according to the CME’s FedWatch Tool.
The 10-year US Treasury yield edged up to 4.30% this morning, said Morrison, as markets reassessed the impact of Powell’s dovish Jackson Hole remarks against the backdrop of political uncertainty.
Looking forward, Nvidia’s earnings report after Wednesday’s close is "without doubt the biggest event of the week", he added, with the chipmaker accounting for 8% of the S&P 500 by market capitalisation.
"There has never been a single company that has that amount of influence on the index before."
US macro data to watch this week includes weekly unemployment claims numbers on Thursday, followed by Friday's core PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure.