The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones indices rebounded on Tuesday as investors processed commentary from Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell, even amidst renewed trade tensions between the United States and China.
Powell reiterated that the central bank remains “slightly more worried” about the condition of the US job market.
“Rising downside risks to employment have shifted our assessment of the balance of risks,” he said, at a meeting of the National Association of Business Economics in Philadelphia.
US President Donald Trump’s had threatened last week to impose additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods, a response to Beijing’s new export controls on rare earth minerals.
The third quarter earnings season commenced on Tuesday, with JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs all declaring their results.
Despite several banks beating profit estimates, the prevailing anxiety over trade policy overshadowed strong results, leading to mixed stock performances.
At 12:58 PM the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 309.37 points, or 0.67%, to 46,378.46, the S&P 500 gained 12.63 points, or 0.19%, to 6,667.35 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 50.73 points, or 0.22%, to 22,643.88.
At 10:08 AM ET, the major indices were trading down significantly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 321.93 points, or 0.70%, to 45,745.65, the S&P 500 lost 55.76 points, or 0.85%, to 6,598.96 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 305.14 points, or 1.34%, to 22,389.47.
At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 195.7 points, or 0.42%, to 45,871.89. The S&P 500 fell 52.2 points, or 0.78%, to 6,602.49 , while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 306.6 points, or 1.35%, to 22,388.043.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.04% from 4.05% late on Friday. Bond markets were closed in the US on Monday for a holiday.
Gainers and Losers
JPMorgan Chase stock dipped 4.1% despite the bank reporting better-than-expected third quarter profit.
Goldman Sachs shares fell 4.6% even though the company beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit.
Wells Fargo stock jumped 2.9% after the bank surpassed third quarter profit estimates.
Citigroup shares slipped 0.9%.
BlackRock shares gained 0.7% in choppy trading.
Artificial intelligence chip company Nvidia’s stock declined 3.5%.
Broadcom tumbled 4.2%, following a nearly 10% surge on Monday after announcing a partnership with OpenAI.
Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla edged down about 3%.
Bullion Market
Gold prices reached a fresh record high, soaring above the $4,100 level on Tuesday, buoyed by market expectations of a rate cut this month by the US Federal Reserve.
The prospect of lower interest rates—which typically makes assets like gold more appealing—pushed the precious metal to an unprecedented peak.
As of 11:22 AM ET (1522 GMT), spot gold rose 0.7% to $4,137.76 per ounce. US gold futures for December delivery gained 0.5% to $4,153.80.
In other metals, spot silver, propelled by factors similar to those affecting gold, hit a record of $53.60/oz before retreating 1.2% to $51.71.
Platinum fell 0.7% to $1,634.05 and palladium rose 2.4% to $1,510.34.
Crude Oil
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as escalating trade tensions between China and the US weakened the appetite for riskier assets, whilst the International Energy Agency (IEA) concurrently raised its estimate for a record global oil surplus.
Brent dropped to around $62 a barrel, losing an early gain, while West Texas Intermediate hovered near $58.
The Paris-based IEA published its monthly market outlook on Tuesday, forecasting an unprecedented level of oversupply for the coming year.
The agency now projects a record oil oversupply for 2026 that is larger than previously estimated.
The IEA stated that global crude supply will exceed demand by almost four million barrels a day next year, labelling this an “unprecedented overhang” in annual terms.
