U.S. stocks drifted higher on Tuesday as investors reacted to reports that President Donald Trump would announce the delay of new auto tariffs on Europe during an anticipated speech scheduled to begin at noon in New York.
How are major benchmarks performing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.16% rose 66 points, or 0.2%, at 27,756, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.33% advanced 15 points at 3,102, a gain of 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.46% added 46 points, or 0.5%, at 8,509.
All three benchmarks were trading above their previous record closing levels, with the Dow and S&P 500 carving out fresh intraday records as well.
On Monday, the Dow finished up around 10 points, or less than 0.1%, to 27,691.49, the S&P 500 index declined 6 points, or 0.2%, to 3,087.01, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 11 points, or 0.1%, to 8,464.27.
What’s driving the market?
Markets have been keenly focused on trade negotiations between the U.S. and two of its major counterparts, Europe and China.
President Donald Trump is expected to put off for another six months a decision on whether to place tariffs of up to 25% on European auto imports. The president may also provide updates on negotiations between Beijing and Washington when he delivers a speech at the Economic Club of New York at 12 p.m. Eastern Time.
“The White House has until tomorrow to make its call, and there is talk the decision will be pushed back,” wrote David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a daily research note, referring to the decision on European auto imports. “Traders are cautiously optimistic, hence stocks are higher this morning.”
Comments on trade will be closely watched after Trump, over the weekend, said discussions with China and the U.S. were going “very nicely,” but cautioned that recent reports about an agreement to roll back tariffs, as a part of a preliminary trade resolution, weren’t accurate.
“During the past couple of trading sessions, fear has creeped in that phase one of the U.S.-China trade talks seems to be delayed if not in danger of not coming to fruition,” Kristina Hooper, chief global markets strategist at Invesco told MarketWatch.
“Now there are concerns that he might go ahead and raise tariffs next month,” on China, she added. “Markets want to hear that that’s not the case and they want to hear that progress is being made on phase one.”
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida theorized about global bond yields remaining around historically lower levels "that are substantially lower than the precrisis experience, and thus substantially closer to the effective lower bound for the policy rate than they were before the crisis,” in prepared remarks at a policy conference in Zurich.
The Fed No. 2’s comments speak to challenges that the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee faces in the coming months as it weigh attempts to stave of a recession, with federal-fund rates at a 1.50%-1.75% range after three straight cuts by policy makers in as many meetings.
Clarida’s remarks also come a day before Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is slated to speak and take questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Check out: Need to Know: Political headlines keeping you up? Focus on the data, says UBS portfolio manager
Which stocks are in focus?
Shares of Dow component Walt Disney Co. DIS, +1.75% rose 1.5% Tuesday, on the day of the debut of Disney+, the company’s new subscription video streaming product, despite reports of some access problems being experienced by users.
Tyson Foods Inc. TSN, +6.62% stock rose 4.9% Tuesday, even after the meat producer reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that missed estimates.
Dean Foods Co. DF, +2.29% has voluntarily filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, with the dairy company saying it was working toward an “orderly” sale of the company. Trade in the stock was halted, but had fallen 79% year-to-date.
CBS Corp. CBS, -2.91% shares fell 3% Tuesday morning after the media company reported third-quarter profits that beat Wall Street forecasts, but revenue that fell short of estimates.
Shares of Advance Auto Parts Inc. AAP, -8.15% fell 8.3% after the automotive-products retailer reported third-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations but same-store sales that missed.
D.R. Horton Inc.’s DHI, +0.20% stock rallied 2.3% Tuesday after the home builder reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales and earnings that beat estimates and provided an optimistic outlook for 2020 revenue.
How are other assets trading?
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.72% fell slightly to 1.939%. Bond markets were closed Monday in observance of Veterans Day.
December gold GCZ19, -0.23% on Comex fell $3.20, or 0.2%, to $1,454 an ounce, hanging around a three-month low, according to FactSet data.
West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery CLZ19, -0.18% popped 0.7% higher to $57.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after shedding 0.7% on Monday.
The ICE U.S. dollar index DXY, +0.10%, a gauge of the greenback’s performance against six major rivals, was up 0.1%, recovering some its losses from a day ago.
In Asia overnight, the China CSI 300 000300, +0.02% gained less than 0.1%, and the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.17% rose 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.52% added, despite fresh protests flare-ups, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index NIK, +0.81% advanced 0.8%.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600’s SXXP, +0.38% gained 0.4%