A mixed day of trading left the US stock market split on Tuesday, as Wall Street's momentum slowed after setting record highs in each of the last two days.
- The S&P 500 slipped 6.94 points, or 0.1%, to 6,198.01 for its first loss in four days.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 400.17 points, or 0.9%, to 44,494.94.
- The Nasdaq composite fell 166.84 points, or 0.8%, to 20,202.89 .
Tesla tugged on the market as the relationship between its CEO, Elon Musk, and President Trump
soured further, the
AP reports. But most US stocks rose. So did short-term Treasury yields following a better-than-expected report on US job openings. Data on US manufacturing was more mixed. One report from the Institute for Supply Management said US manufacturing activity shrank again in June, but not by as much as the month before. A separate report from S&P Global suggested manufacturing production returned to growth in June after three months of declines.
Tesla fell 5.3% and was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. It had already dropped a little more than 21% for the year so far coming into the day, in part because of Musk's and Trump's feud. Drops for several darlings of the artificial-intelligence frenzy also weighed on the market. Nvidia's decline of 3% was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. But more stocks rose within the index than fell, led by several casino companies. They rallied following a report showing better-than-expected growth in overall gaming revenue in Macao, China's casino hub. Wynn Resorts climbed 8.8% and Las Vegas Sands gained 8.9%.
Automakers outside of Tesla were also strong, with General Motors up 5.7% and Ford Motor up 4.6%. The overall US stock market has made a stunning recovery from its springtime sell-off of roughly 20%. But challenges still lie ahead for Wall Street, with one of the largest being the continued threat of Trump's tariffs. Many of Trump's stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, but they're scheduled to kick into effect in about a week. Depending on how big they are, they could hurt the economy and worsen inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said again on Tuesday that he wants to wait for more evidence about how much Trump's tariffs will affect the economy and inflation before resuming cuts to interest rates.