US stocks faltered on Tuesday as investors weighed the likely fallout of President Trump’s latest tariff blitz and the US government careened toward its first shutdown in seven years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led losses, falling around 0.4%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slid around 0.3%, coming off modest closing gains on Wall Street.
Markets are bracing for a government shutdown after Trump and Republicans met with Democrats in the Oval Office on Monday but failed to strike a deal to avert a halt to funding. “I think we’re headed to a shutdown,” Vice President JD Vance said after the meeting.
Lawmakers have until 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday to reach a last-gasp agreement or see the first stoppage since 2019. Odds of a shutdown are near 85%, according to Polymarket.
For Wall Street, the concern is that the government’s economic data releases will halt during a stoppage. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will “completely cease operations” if it happens, the Department of Labor said, likely delaying the release of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report among other top-tier data crucial to the Federal Reserve’s policy setting.
A JOLTS update on September job openings released Tuesday could be the last labor market insight from BLS for some time. The report showed job openings rose more than expected. Hiring slowed and layoffs dropped, consistent with the “low-hire, low-fire” market that has taken shape in recent months.
In other economic data, an update on consumer confidence showed the Conference Board’s measure dropping to its lowest point since April, in the throes of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff salvos. Consumers expressed a dim outlook on the job market in particular, the report said.
Meanwhile, Trump sent out a fresh flurry of tariffs on lumber, timber, and certain types of furniture late Monday, hot on the heels of a threat of levies on foreign-made movies and last week’s plan to put 100% duties on branded drugs. Concerns are growing about the impact on the global economy from Trump’s ever-expanding trade offensive, after new data showed China and Japan’s factories are still caught in a slump.
Looking forward, Nike (NKE) is expected to report earnings after the bell.
LIVE 13 updates
-
Nvidia hits fresh intraday record as Citi sees AI capex hitting $2.8 trillion
Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose more than 2% in morning trading on Tuesday to a fresh record of over $186.
The stock’s rise comes as Citi (C) analyst Atif Malik on Tuesday forecast that AI capital expenditures from 2025 through 2029 would hit $2.8 trillion.
Also on Tuesday, CoreWeave (CRWV), an Nvidia-backed company that’s also a major customer of Nvidia, announced a $14 billion deal with Meta (META), which CEO Michael Intrator revealed during an interview with Bloomberg, sending the stock up.
Nvidia has also unveiled its own recent flurry of deals, from a $100 billion investment in OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) to a $5 billion stake in Intel (INTC).
-
US job openings increase moderately in August
The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the number of job openings was little changed in August.
Job openings rose by 19,000 to total 7.23 million during the month, in line with estimates for 7.2 million job openings, while the number of quits was also little changed at 3.1 million. Job openings decreased in construction (-115,000) and in the federal government (-61,000).
This JOLTS report holds particular significance, as a government shutdown on Wednesday is likely to delay the release of the September jobs report if Congress is unable to break its stalemate, which could muddy the Fed’s decision making at its October meeting. It also comes as the labor market has started to soften in recent months.
Investors will still get private payrolls data from ADP on Wednesday.
“The totality of the data plus the policy standoff in Washington is creating a much … greater degree of difficulty for the Fed to stick the landing here,” RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas told Yahoo Finance. “They’re going to have a hard time discerning what’s what ahead of the October 28-29 policy meeting.”
Read more here.
-
Robinhood stock extends rally as CEO touts prediction markets milestone, teases short selling
Robinhood’s stock (HOOD) continues to accumulate gains — and the most recent catalyst is the fintech company’s prediction markets.
On Monday, CEO Vlad Tenev revealed on X that Robinhood’s prediction markets surpassed 4 billion event contracts traded, propelling the stock 12% higher during the session. On Tuesday, the stock opened another 3% higher. Year to date, Robinhood shares are up 278%, nearly quadrupling their value in 2025.
The company, which began as a retail trading platform, has been rolling out new services, such as a credit card and checking accounts, over the past year as it seeks to diversify into banking and become a one-stop shop for financial services.
On Monday, Tenev teased another feature — short selling — coming soon to the platform. “Shorting on Robinhood. Soon for bears of all sizes,” he posted alongside an image of three bears.
-
Stocks roughly flat at the open
US stocks edged lower on Tuesday morning as the chance of a government shutdown and new lumber tariffs weighed on equities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), the S&P 500 (^GSPC), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all slipped just below the flat line.
Elsewhere in markets, gold (GC=F) retreated from its record highs, down 0.2%, and crude oil (CL=F, BZ=F) prices also fell 1%. The 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) ticked lower by about 1 basis point to 4.12%.
-
CoreWeave stock surges on AI infrastructure deal with Meta
CoreWeave’s (CRWV) shares jumped over 9% in premarket trading after it inked a $14.2 billion deal to provide Meta (META) with AI computing power.
The Nvidia-backed (NVDA) AI data center operator will give Meta access to the chipmaker’s latest GB300 systems, Bloomberg reported.
The social media giant’s shares were up fractionally before the market open, while futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) traded flat.
The news comes on the heels of CoreWeave’s $6.5 billion agreement with OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) announced last week.
Its Meta partnership is the latest in a flurry of recent multibillion-dollar deals that highlight the high costs of and demand for AI infrastructure. These range from Nvidia’s $100 billion investment and collaboration with OpenAi, while the ChatGPT maker itself has sealed a reported $300 billion contract with Oracle (ORCL).
-
Wolfspeed shares rally after chipmaker exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Wolfspeed (WOLF) stock surged more than 25% before the bell on Tuesday, after the chipmaker emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it reduced its overall debt by about 70%.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
-
Budget hotels are feeling the squeeze of an uncertain economy
As luxury products, with their high margins, seem to be thriving in the travel segment, budget services are struggling, especially in the travel segment.
Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes in today’s Morning Brief newsletter:
Read more here.
-
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to leave chief executive role
Spotify (SPOT) CEO Daniel Ek will hand over the CEO role to two executives on Jan. 1, the music streaming company announced Tuesday.
Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, the chief business officer, were tapped to become co-CEOs, while Ek will transition into an executive chairman role. Ek, who co-founded the streaming giant in 2006, said he would remain engaged “on the long arc of the company.”
“Over the last few years, I’ve turned over a large part of the day-to-day management and strategic direction of Spotify to Alex and Gustav — who have shaped the company from our earliest days and are now more than ready to guide our next phase,” Ek said in a statement. “This change simply matches titles to how we already operate.”
Spotify shares dropped 4% in premarket trading on the news.
Read more here.
-
Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
-
What a government shutdown could look like
“I think we’re headed to a shutdown,” Vice President JD Vance said overnight, as both sides left an Oval Office meeting saying no deal is in the immediate offing.
The lack of progress boosts the odds of the first government stoppage since 2019, which could begin one minute after midnight on Tuesday, unless a last-minute deal is struck.
Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul lays out the likely fallout:
Read more here.
-
Premarket trending tickers: Wolfspeed, Intel and Newmont
Here’s a look at some of the top stocks trending in premarket trading:
Wolfspeed (WOLF) stock soared over 19% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the chipmaker said it had exited a Chapter 11 bankruptcy after cutting its total debt by almost 70%.
Intel (INTC) stock fell 2% before the bell on Tuesday after surging over 20% during last week’s trading. Intel seeking investment from Apple (AAPL) had sent the chipmakers stock up.
Newmont Corp. (NEM) shares fell 3% premarket after announcing a change to their leadership on Monday, with the exit of Newmont’s CEO, Tom Palmer, on Dec. 31.
-
Google’s YouTube to pay $24.5 million to settle Trump Jan. 6 lawsuit
Google-owned YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump, after he was suspended from the video platform following the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
Shares in parent company Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) were little changed in premarket trading after the deal was disclosed on Monday.
The settlement resolves Trump’s claim that the banishment from his channel amounted to illegal censorship.
It also makes Google’s YouTube the last of the three social-media giants sued by Trump to settle over Jan. 6 bans. Meta (META) agreed to pay $25 million to end a Facebook-related suit in January, while X laid out about $10 million in February over a Twitter suspension, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
-
Gold reaches new record with government shutdown fears driving haven demand
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
