U.S. stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq posting a new record high, while the Dow and S&P 500 slid after data showed inflation rose in June, and a mixed bag of bank earnings dented investors’ sentiment.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) slid 1% or 436.36 points, to end at 44,023.29 points.
The S&P 500 lost 0.4%, or 24.80 points, to close at 6,243.76 points. Tech stocks were the only gainers on Tuesday, while Materials, financial and real estate stocks were the worst performers.
The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) lost 1.7%, while the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) fell 2.1%. The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) lost 1.3%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) declined 1.4%. Ten of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.2%, or 37.47 points, to finish at 20,677.80 points, posting a new all-time closing high.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 1.05% to 17.38. A total of 16.82 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 17.85 billion.
Inflation Data Reignites Tariff Fears
Inflation data released on Tuesday showed an increase from the May reading. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.3% month over month in June, after increasing 0.1% in May. Year over year, CPI increased 2.7%, matching the consensus estimate.
Core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, rose 0.2% sequentially in June and 2.9% from year-ago levels, both matching estimates.
The jump in inflation was anticipated, but the reading reignited fears that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could weigh on the economy. Trump, over the weekend, announced 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union from Aug 1.
This weighed on the Dow and the S&P 500, as stocks tumbled on fears of a global trade war. However, the Nasdaq ended in the green, led by a 4% jump in NVIDIA Corporation’s (NVDA) stock after the AI-giant announced that it would restart sales of its H20 AI chip to China. NVIDIA has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Earnings Season Kicks Off
A large number of big banks kicked off the second-quarter earnings season, as they reported a mixed bag of quarterly reports. Among the big banks, shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) declined 0.7% despite upwardly revising its 2025 net interest income outlook. The company reported second-quarter 2025 earnings of $4.96 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.51 per share.
Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) also plunged 5.5% despite the company beating on earnings and revenue estimates. Wells Fargo reported second-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.54 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.41 per share.
All focus will be on the earnings season now, with another batch of banks, including America Corporation (BAC) and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS), scheduled to come up with their quarterly reports later this week.
Economic Data
In other economic data released on Tuesday, the Empire State Index for July jumped to 5.5 points, beating expectations of a decline to 9. This is the highest level since February.
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The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report Bank of America Corporation (BAC): Free Stock Analysis Report Wells Fargo & Company (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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