After ending Monday’s volatile session notably higher, stocks continued to show a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower.
The Dow fell 155,83 points or 0.4 percent to 40,368,96, the S&P 500 (SPI:SP500) dipped 9.34 points or 0.2 percent to 5,396.63 and the Nasdaq edged down 8.32 points or 0.1 percent to 16,823.17.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to digest the latest earnings news as well as developments on the volatile tariff front.
President Donald Trump has indicated a potential temporary tariff exemption for the auto industry, especially for counties like Mexico and Canada.
At the same time, there were reports that the U.S. was kicking off investigations into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing import prices edged slightly lower in the month of March.
The Labor Department said import prices slipped by 0.1 percent in March after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in February.
Economists had expected import prices to come in unchanged compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said export prices were flat in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in February.
Economists had expected export prices to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed New York manufacturing activity has declined modestly in the month of April.
Sector News
While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, banking stocks saw notable strength, resulting in a 1.7 percent gain by the KBW Bank Index.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) ended the day firmly positive after reporting better than expected first quarter results.
Networking stocks also saw some strength on the day, while transportation stocks moved to the downside, dragging the Dow Jones Transportation Average down by 1.1 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index crept up by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index both jumped by 1.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries saw continued strength following the notable rebound seen on Monday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 4.1 basis points to 4.323 percent.
Looking Ahead
Reports on retail sales and industrial production are likely to attract attention on Wednesday along with any developments on the tariff front.
SOURCE: RTTNEWS