After fluctuating early in the session, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. With the upward move, the major averages are adding to the strong gains posted during Monday’s session.
In recent trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have risen to new highs for the session. The Nasdaq is up 88.92 points or 0.5 percent at 18,277.52, the S&P 500 is up 16.18 points or 0.3 percent at 5,783.75 and the Dow is up 70.89 points or 0.2 percent at 42,954.21.
The continued strength on Wall Street may reflect optimism President Donald Trump plans to take a more narrow approach to new tariffs.
Trump said at an event on Monday that he “may give a lot of countries breaks” on reciprocal tariffs that are set to take effect April 2nd.
However, Trump also said he plans to impose tariffs on the automotive and pharmaceutical industries in the “very near future” and later added the lumber and semiconductor industries to his list of targets.
The president has recently made many conflicting remarks about his tariff plans, leading to considerable uncertainty on Wall Street.
Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the Conference Board showing consumer confidence in the U.S. deteriorated by more than expected in the month of March.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 92.9 in March from an upwardly revised 100.1 in February.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to slump to 94.2 from the 98.3 originally reported for the previous month.
“Consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month in March, falling below the relatively narrow range that had prevailed since 2022,” said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board.
Sector News
Gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.4 percent to its best intraday level in over four years.
The rally by gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery climbing $19.10 to $3,034.70 an ounce.
Significant strength is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
On the other hand, utilities stocks have moved sharply lower on the day, dragging the Dow Jones Utility Average down by 2.0 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 2.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are showing a lack of direction following the notable pullback seen over the two previous sessions. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by less than a basis point at 4.327 percent.
U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Higher After Early Volatility
2025-03-25 14:51:08
