Wall Street is experiencing a subdued trading session, with all major indices showing minimal movement around midday in New York. The latest producer inflation data provided mixed signals ahead of the highly anticipated consumer inflation report on Wednesday.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his outlook that U.S. monetary policy will maintain its current rate for a longer period than previously anticipated, dismissing fears of new rate hikes.

President Joe Biden announced significant tariffs on Chinese imports, imposing 25% on steel and aluminum, 100% on electric vehicles made in China, 25% on EV batteries, and a 50% tariff on semiconductors from China.

The U.S. dollar index (DXY), the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, fell 0.2% negatively reacting to producer inflation readings and Powell’s remarks.

Treasury yields slightly softened, with traders holding expectations of two Fed rate cuts by year-end.

All major indices such as the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq 100 traded broadly flat for the day.

Small caps, as tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM, rallied 0.8%, on track to notch the highest close since early April.

Momentum on meme stocks continued to remain wild, with shares of GameStop Corp. GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC up 22% and 18%, respectively.

In the commodities market, gold rose 0.8% while oil prices fell 1.4% on concerns that some OPEC+ members want to raise output.

Bitcoin BTC/USD fell 2.5% to $61,400.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was flat at $520.94, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA was flat at $394.37 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was up 0.1% to $443.41, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Sector-wise, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE outperformed, up 0.5%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund XLP was the major laggard, down 0.6%.

Tuesday’s Stock Movers

• Shares of Insulet Corp. PODD were up by 4.6% on Tuesday, even though short-seller Blue Orca Capital announced it had taken a short position in the company’s stock.
• Plug Power Inc. PLUG soared over 20% following the announcement that it secured a $1.66 billion government loan to support its clean hydrogen projects, leading to the stock’s most significant single-day gain in seven years.
• SunPower Corp. SPWR rallied 44%, buoyed by the meme-stock frenzy.
• Delcath Systems Inc. DCTH rose over 30% in reaction to the company’s quarterly results.
• Other stocks reacting to earnings were Home Depot Inc. HD, down 1.1%; On Holding AG ONON, up 18%; International Game Technology IGT up 2.5% and Navios Maritime Partners LP NMM down 6%.

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