Stocks Fall, GM Eyes Best Day In A Year, Gold Breaks Records, Silver Hits 12-Year Highs: What's Driving Markets Tuesday?

Wall Street traded lower for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, as investor sentiment turned cautious with the U.S. presidential election just two weeks away.

Concerns over U.S. fiscal policies and potential shifts in economic direction fueled the pause in risk-taking.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded its U.S. growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025 in the latest World Economic Outlook, while also flagging rising concerns about the country's debt trajectory, warning that with current large fiscal deficits, “the U.S. public debt is not stabilized.”

Commodities were the standout performers on Tuesday, with both metals and energy experiencing notable gains.

Gold, tracked by the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, rose 0.8%, pushing further into record territory. This increase extended its year-to-date performance to 34%, positioning gold for its strongest annual gain since 1979. Gold miners, as represented by the VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX, rallied for the ninth consecutive session, hitting their highest levels in over four years.

Silver, tracked by the iShares Silver Trust SLV, surged 2.8%, reaching levels not seen since October 2012.

Oil prices rallied nearly 3%, building on a 2% surge from Monday. U.S. Treasury yields ticked up modestly on Tuesday following Monday's spike, with the 10-year yield settling at 4.21%.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, climbed past the 104 mark, continuing its steady ascent and eyeing a fourth consecutive week of gains.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin BTC/USD fell 0.5%, dipping to around $67,000 and marking its second consecutive day of declines.

Tuesday’s Performance In US Major Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %change
Dow Jones	42,907.57	-0.1 %
S&P 500	5,840.39	-0.2%
Nasdaq 100	20,291.15	-0.3%
Russell 2000	2,228.60	-0.5%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 0.3% to $581.79.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA inched 0.1% lower to $429.14.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ fell 0.4% to $493.29.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM fell 0.5% $221.04.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE outperformed, up 0.6%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLI lagged, down 1.1%.

Tuesday’s Stock Performers

General Motors Co. GM surged 9%, on track for its strongest session in nearly a year, after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings and announcing an additional $5 billion share buyback program extending into next year.

Other stocks reacting to earnings include:

• Southern Copper Corp. SCCO, up 1.5%
• Nucor Corp. NUE, down 6%
• W.R. Berkley Corp. WRB, down 4.6%
• Zion Bancorp. N.A. ZION, up 6.8%
• Wintrust Financial Corp. WTFC, up 1.6%
• Philip Morris International Inc. PM, up 8.8%
• GE Aerospace GE, down over 8%
• Danaher Corp. DHR, down 3%
• Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, down 4.4%
• RTX Corp. RTX, down 0.4%
• Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT, down 5.8%
• Fiserv Inc. FI, down 0.4%
• Moodys Corp. MCO down 4.5%
• 3M Company MMM, down 0.9%
• Freeport-McMoran Inc. FCX, up 1.4%
• Kimberly-Clark Corp. KMB, down 4%
• PulteGroup Inc. PHM, down 5.7%

Large-cap companies reporting earnings after the close include Texas Instruments Inc. TXN, Baker Hughes Co. BKR, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC STX, Packaging Corporation of America PKG, Manhattan Associates Inc. MANH, East West Bancorp. Inc. EWBC and Enphase Energy Inc. ENPH

Now Read:

• How US Elections Could Impact US Dollar: Goldman Sachs Expects Greenback Will Remain ‘Stronger For Longer’

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