Wall Street Inches Up Ahead Of Tariff Day: What's Driving Markets Tuesday?

Following the worst quarterly performance for U.S. stocks in over two years, caution dominated Wall Street as investors awaited details on the tariff plans expected from the Trump administration on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a Washington Post report suggested the administration is considering a sweeping 20% tariff on most of the $3 trillion in annual imports.

Survey data showed that goods-producing businesses had been front-loading purchases ahead of the expected tariffs by the end of first quarter, with inventory levels rising and input cost pressures hitting a three-year high.

Major indexes showed little movement by midday in New York, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 posting modest gains.

Notably, Tesla Inc. TSLA, Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN, and Lucid Group Inc. LCID each jumped around 6% as investors viewed them as potential winners from auto-related tariffs.

Reports last week highlighted that all three manufacture vehicles entirely in the U.S., giving them a competitive edge over peers like Ford Motor Co. F and General Motors Co. GM.

Treasuries climbed as yields fell, and gold took a breather after hitting a record $3,122 per ounce. Bitcoin BTC/USD rose more than 3% to over $85,000, marking its strongest session in three weeks.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Nasdaq 100	19,398.82	0.6%
S&P 500	5,625.05	0.2%
Russell 2000	2,015.97	0.2%
Dow Jones	42,051.95	0.1 %

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY inched 0.3% up to $560.83.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA eased 0.1% to $419.37.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rose 0.5% to $471.29.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM inched 0.1% higher to 199.82.
• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY outperformed, up 1.3%; the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund XLV lagged, down 1.2%.

Tuesday’s Stock Movers

• Johnson & Johnson JNJ fell over 5%, on track for the worst day since late March 2020. The decline followed a ruling from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, which rejected the proposed prepackaged bankruptcy plan of its subsidiary, Red River Talc.
• American Airlines Group Inc. AAL fell to the lowest level since late August, after Jefferies downgraded the stock from ‘Buy’ to ‘Hold’ and reduced its price target from $20.00 to $12.00.
• IAC Inc. IAC rallied 26.5% after completing the spin-off of Angi Inc. ANGI.

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