4:12pm: Fed in focus
Wall Street was little changed at the end of the day, as investors took a breather ahead of the Fed’s interest rate decision due on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones was down 0.3% at 45,757 points, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% at 6,606 points and the Nasdaq slipped 14 points to 22,333 points.
3:57pm: Proactive news headlines
GoviEx Uranium Inc (TSX-V:GXU, OTCQB:GVXXF) announced that it has filed the management information circular and related materials for its upcoming special meeting where securityholders will be asked to approve the previously announced plan of arrangement under which Tombador Iron Limited will acquire all of the issued and outstanding GoviEx shares.
Millennial Potash Corp (TSX-V:MLP, OTCQB:MLPNF) announced that it has intersected 220.25 metres of potash mineralization in drillhole BA-001-EXT at its Banio Potash Project in Gabon.
Digi Power X Inc (NASDAQ:DGXX, TSX-V:DGX) has accelerated its transformation towards prioritizing artificial intelligence (AI) over the past calendar year, where it aims to become a leader in advanced AI infrastructure, company CEO Michel Amar wrote in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday.
2:45pm: Market movers
- Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY, ETR:HSY) shares gained more than 3% on Tuesday after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the chocolate maker’s stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Sell.’
- Aptevo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APVO) saw its shares jump sharply Tuesday after the company reported encouraging clinical data from its Phase 1b/2 RAINIER trial evaluating mipletamig, a first-in-class CD123 x CD3 bispecific antibody, in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are unfit for intensive chemotherapy.
- Rocket Lab USA Inc (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares fell 10% to about $48 in after the provider of launch services and space systems revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that it has entered into a new at-the-market (ATM) equity offering arrangement under which it could raise up to $750 million by selling company shares from time to time.
- Webtoon Entertainment Inc (Nasdaq: WBTN) shares surged 29% to about $19 as the two companies announced that Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS, ETR:WDP) intends to acquire a 2% equity stake in the online comics company as well as jointly develop an all-new digital comics platform.
- Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) shares slid 15% to about $20 in early trading after the restaurant and arcade chain’s second quarter 2025 financial results fell short of Wall Street expectations.
- Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) shares gained after the company reported promising Phase 3 trial results for its experimental weight-loss drug Cagrilintide, presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes congress in Vienna.
1:02pm: Trump pick joins Fed
The US Senate has narrowly confirmed Stephen Miran, a senior economic adviser to President Donald Trump, to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on Monday, just one day before policymakers convene for a closely watched meeting on interest rates. Miran was confirmed in a 48-47 vote that largely followed party lines.
He replaces former Governor Adriana Kugler and is expected to take part in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that begins Tuesday, where officials are widely anticipated to approve a 25 basis point cut to the benchmark interest rate.
Miran has served as chair of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers and will take unpaid leave from that post while on the Fed board. However, he has not resigned his White House role, making him the first sitting administration official in decades to simultaneously serve at the central bank.
The unusual arrangement has drawn scrutiny from some economists and lawmakers who warn it could weaken the Fed’s independence.
12:22pm: BoC primed to cut rates
Canada‘s annual inflation rate increased to 1.9% in August, up from 1.7% in July, as higher food costs were offset by sharply lower gasoline prices, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday.
The economist consensus estimate was for a 2% increase.
Gas prices fell year over year due to the removal of the consumer carbon tax, but decreased at a smaller rate in August than in previous months.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), excluding energy and food, rose 2.4% year over year, but was down from 2.5% in each of May, June and July.
August’s inflation reading reinforces the view of many economists that the Bank of Canada (BoC) will cut interest rates on Wednesday.
11:03am: Positive data
Wall Street hovered near record highs following positive economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate call. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 0.1%, respectively, while the Dow Jones pulled back 0.4%.
“Both US retail sales and industrial production beat expectations while US homebuilder confidence remained flat,” IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph said.
“This contrasts to deteriorating UK employment data and weaker-than expected German industrial production. Significantly stronger-than-forecast German economic sentiment didn't stop the flow of sellers with the DAX 40 slipping by around 1.5%."
9:55am: Stocks start in red
US stocks started slightly in the red, following the stronger-than-expected retail sales data, which may cast some doubt on the path for Fed cuts.
The Dow Jones was down 0.3% in early trades, while the S&P and Nasdaq started close to 0.1% lower.
9:24am: Retail sales stronger than expected
US retail sales rose 0.6% last month, or 0.7% on a core basis, excluding autos, both higher than expected.
Net revisions were +0.2% for both measures. The control retail sales also climbed by 0.7%, above the consensus forecast of 0.4%.
Market analyst Fawad Razaqzada at City Index said this data "suggests it is not all doom and gloom" but was "probably too little too late" to prevent a Fed rate cut tomorrow.
"The Fed has clearly signalled it will trim rates and everyone expects them to do so," he added.
"But the recent dollar selling was never about this week’s likely rate cut. It was all about whether we will get one or two more cuts before the year is out.
"Well, the jury is still out on that, as surely one retail sales report is unlikely to sway the Fed in one or the other direction."
Sam Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics said sales were robust in August, "but the outlook for further tariff-driven price hikes and a stagnant labor market suggests this momentum is unlikely to be sustained".
Looking ahead, he predicted that households’ real after-tax income will "tread water until the end of this year", with indicators of employment intentions remaining weak, wage growth tipped to slow in response to lower job market churn, while businesses have passed on only one-third of the tariff costs so far.
"Meanwhile, households no longer hold excess liquid assets, and falls in home prices are offsetting some of the positive wealth effect from rising stock prices.
"Households also are much more worried than usual about losing their jobs, suggesting that discretionary spending will struggle. Accordingly, we expect real consumption to rise at a mere 0.5-to-1% annualized pace in Q4
8:10am: Nasdaq and S&P called higher, Dow flat
Stocks were looking mixed ahead of the opening bell in New York on Tuesday, as the Federal Reserve begins a meeting that is expected to conclude with at least a quarter-point cut to interest rates.
Futures suggest the Dow Jones will start very slightly lower, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are called 0.3% and 0.2% higher, respectively.
Wall Street started the week with more record highs, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both marched to new record highs, up 0.9% and 0.5%, while the Dow inched up 0.1%.
The US dollar was softer again, with the DXY index down 0.24% at 97.07.
Gold prices, meanwhile, reached another record high above $3,699 an ounce, while WTI crude oil futures were up 0.8% to $63.81 a barrel.
Analysts said the weaker dollar and growing conviction around a Fed rate cut was fuelling demand for the yellow metal and other real assets.
Gold is pushing to new records "on an anticipation of lower rates and higher inflation and continued narrative around central banks swapping USD for gold", said market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo.
With the US Fed meeting beginning today ahead of tomorrow's decision, Wilson said a "lot of the market reaction will depend on how open the Fed seems to further cuts", though he still predicted the Federal Open Market Committee will keep to the wording that the "extent and timing" of further policy adjustments will be dependent on incoming data.
"The market will choose how to take that."
The FOMC meeting takes place amid unusual circumstances after President Trump's administration failed in a last-ditch attempt to oust Fed governor Lisa Cook before the meeting begins, as an appeals court last night blocked the move.
Cook is likely to be at the meeting, barring any additional legal action, while Trump's new appointment to the board of governors, Stephen Miran, was confirmed yesterday.
Market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone said markets are convinced there will be 75bps worth of cuts over the next three meetings.
"The narrative will now become not if we get a cut, but rather how fast future cuts are coming," he said, with investors, traders and algorithms likely to be paying very close attention to the Fed ‘dot plot’ showing where each member of the Committee expects the federal funds rate to be at the end of each of the next few years.
"It’s not a promise or official policy. Rather, it’s a snapshot of expectations. Markets look closely at the median dot as a guide for where the Fed might go," said Polcari.