Dow Jones sees 1,000-point intraday swing in wild Wall Street session

Benchmark indices on Wall Street had a wild session on Tuesday as the Dow Jones reversed a decline of nearly 600 points to end with gains. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq though ended the session in the red, although they too saw a marginally recovery from the session’s lows.

In a single session, the Dow moved from an intraday low of 45,452 to an intraday high of 46,522, a recovery of over 1,000 points from the lows. The index again cooled off from the highs but ended with modest gains.

The recovery in the Dow Jones was supported by a surge in banking stocks, even as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs underperformed despite results beating expectations. A surge in shares of Wells Fargo and Citigroup after their results, along with Morgan Stanley supported the Dow Jones.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in an address to business leaders said that the economic conditions are relatively unchanged from the last FOMC meet in September, indicating another potential cut in two weeks from now, and another one in December. Powell’s remarks also contributed to the recovery.

Volatility returned to Wall Street after US President Donald Trump launched yet another attack on China, stating that they are purposely not buying US Soybean, causing distress to their farmers and therefore, the US is considering ending business with China with regards to their used cooking oil, imports of which had hit a record high in 2024.

Trump’s remarks came after US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that the 100% tariff threat that Trump announced from November 1 on Chinese imports depends on the next action from the Chinese as they are the ones that escalated the issue. He added that the Trump-Xi meet is still on track, but is subject to change based on the turn of events.

More banks on Wall Street report results later today along with speeches from more Fed officials. The US Government shutdown enters its 15th day with no resolution in sight.