Tech led US stocks on Tuesday as a key consumer inflation print showed inflation accelerated in June, big banks kicked off earnings season, and Nvidia (NVDA) looked set to receive a green light for trade with China from the Trump administration.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded below the flat line after opening higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lost 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed nearly 0.7%, buoyed by AI chipmaker Nvidia’s gains. A muted morning for stocks came on the heels of closing gains for the major gauges.
Nvidia eyed a fresh record close after the company said that it’s planning to resume sales of its AI chips to China — one of its most important markets — after receiving assurances from the US government that it will be granted approval. The dramatic reversal in the Trump administration’s earlier stance on export curbs, part of its trade standoff with Beijing, helped lift shares of chip stocks across the board.
President Trump’s trade policy also loomed over the June consumer inflation report, which showed the first real signs of tariff-driven price increases. The Consumer Price Index headline number rose 0.3% month over month and 2.7% year over year, both accelerations from May’s data.
The 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) climbed more than 5 basis points to nearly 4.5%, while the 30-year Treasury yield (^TYX) rose 4 basis points to more than 5% for the first time since June 3.
Meanwhile, big banks unofficially kicked off earnings season Tuesday morning. Shares of Citi (C) and JPMorgan (JPM) climbed after reporting better-than-expected earnings, while Wells Fargo (WFC) fell as the bank cut its full-year forecast for net interest income, a key profitability metric. JPMorgan’s dealmaking boost in the quarter demonstrated how Wall Street recovered from Trump’s most sweeping tariffs in real time.
Read more: Full earnings coverage in our live blog
The backdrop to both events is Trump’s escalatory moves on tariffs over the past week. He has spent the last several days threatening key trade partners, most notably Canada, the European Union, and Mexico, with high duties from Aug. 1.
The tariffs drama and the inflation and earnings pictures also factor into the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates, coming in just over two weeks. The vast majority of bets are on a hold this month, followed by a rate cut in September.
Of course, Trump has spent the past few weeks pushing for more cuts. He and his allies are beefing up their criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, both on rates and on new fronts, like the Fed’s headquarters renovation.
LIVE 13 updates
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Alibaba, Baidu jump as the Chinese tech firms are ‘poised to benefit from Nvidia’s return to China’
US-listed shares of Alibaba (BABA) and Baidu (BIDU) jumped 6.4% and 7.8%, respectively, on Tuesday following news that Nvidia (NVDA) is set to resume sales of its AI chips to China.
CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino said the two Chinese tech giants, which operate AI cloud services, are “poised to benefit from Nvidia’s return to China.”
“Both companies are aggressively stepping up AI infrastructure build efforts, which we expect to help drive AI spending growth in the region,” Zino wrote in an analysis Tuesday. “Access to advanced Nvidia chips is a welcoming sign for Chinese cloud providers.”
Zino added: “Although we acknowledge that Chinese companies like Huawei are developing their own AI chips, we think domestic brands are inferior to the performance constrained H20 GPUs.”
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JPMorgan’s Dimon warns against ‘playing around with the Fed’ as Powell pressure mounts
JPMorgan’s (JPM) CEO issued a warning that President Trump’s intensifying pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and replace the central bank’s chair, Jerome Powell, could have unintended effects.
Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith and Ben Werschkul report:
Read the full story here.
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MP Materials stock soars after $500 million rare earths deal with Apple
US-based rare earth materials miner MP Materials Corp. (MP) saw its stock soar more than 22% Tuesday after announcing a deal with Apple (AAPL).
Apple on Tuesday said that it had committed to a $500 million multiyear deal with MP Materials to buy its rare earth magnets for the tech giant’s products.
The iPhone maker said the deal was part of its effort to build out its US supply chain. Apple has committed to spending over $500 billion in the US to help expand its domestic manufacturing capacity.
“Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday.
Apple has come under pressure from President Trump, who has threatened the company with 25% tariffs on its overseas-made iPhones.
Apple stock rose fractionally on Tuesday morning.
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Tech leads US stocks higher
Tech led stocks higher on Tuesday as chip stocks rose across the board following news that AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) and its rival AMD (AMD) were on track to resume sales of their chips to China.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) jumped 0.7%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.3%, as a key consumer inflation report showed prices accelerated in June.
Meanwhile, big banks’ earnings season kicked off with mixed results from JPMorgan (JPM), Citi C) and Wells Fargo (WFC). Shares of Citi rose after better-than-expected earnings, while Wells Fargo fell as the bank cut its full year forecast for net interest income, a key profitability metric.
JPMorgan’s dealmaking boost in the quarter demonstrated how Wall Street recovered from Trump’s most sweeping tariffs in real time but wasn’t enough to push the stock higher, with shares falling 1% early Tuesday.
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Chip stocks jump, Nvidia eyes fresh record as it looks to resume H20 sales to China
Chip stocks climbed Tuesday before the market open after Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) said they are planning to resume sales of their AI chips to China after the US government approves them.
Nvidia climbed more than 4%, while AMD jumped over 5%.
Micron (MU) and Broadcom (AVGO) rose about 2%. US-listed shares of Nvidia and AMD’s contract manufacturer, TSMC (TSM), gained more than 2%.
Nvidia’s gain is set to push the stock to a new record high, boosting the company’s market cap further above the $4 trillion mark after cementing its spot as the world’s most valuable company in history last week.
Read the full story about Nvidia stock’s gain on Tuesday here.
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Consumer price increases accelerate in June
The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that consumer prices increased 2.7% over the prior year in June, an acceleration from May’s 2.4% and above economists’ forecast for 2.6%.
On a month-over-month basis, prices increased 0.3%, in line with economists’ expectations. Prices increased 0.1% on a monthly basis in May by comparison.
On a “core” basis, which strips out the more volatile costs of food and gas, prices in June climbed 0.2% over the prior month, ahead of May’s 0.1% rise but below consensus projections for a 0.3% increase. Over the last year, core prices rose 2.9%, in line with expectations and above the 2.8% seen the month prior.
Read more here.
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Trending tickers premarket: Nvidia, JPMorgan, BlackRock, The Trade Desk
Here’s a look at the top tickers trending on Yahoo Finance this morning:
Check out more trending tickers here.
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JPMorgan gets a dealmaking boost as Wall Street recovered from tariff tumult
JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) second quarter results came in better than expected on Tuesday, though shares in the bank were lower by less than 1% in premarket trading.
Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith reports:
Read more here.
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Jerome Powell has more housing problems now, including the Fed’s
For all the talk about the Fed’s prolonged challenge to tame the frenzy of the COVID-era housing market, it’s the central bank’s own headquarters that’s drawing intense scrutiny from the White House.
But that’s just one of the Fed’s housing problems, Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban reports in today’s Morning Brief:
Read more here.
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BlackRock assets balloon to over $12 trillion in Q2
BlackRock’s (BLK) assets under management surged to top $12 trillion in the second quarter, the first money manager to pass that milestone.
Adjusted quarterly profit came in at $1.88 billion, or $12.05 per share, up from $1.55 billion, or $10.36 per share, a year earlier. That compares with an average estimate for $10.78 a share, per a FactSet survey of analysts.
Shares in BlackRock slipped 1% in premarket trading as investors parsed its results.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
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Nvidia shares pop as US clears way for AI chip sales to China
Nvidia (NVDA) stock is popping in premarket trade after the AI chipmaker got a breakthrough in its China sales logjam.
Shares are up 5% after Nvidia said it had secured Trump administration approval to restart deliveries of its China-tailored AI chip.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
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Gold bounces back from early week slip
Gold (GC=F) prices rebounded from a mild dip Monday as global tariff talks have failed to offer investors a sense of security, bolstering the value of the haven asset.
Bloomberg reports:
Bullion rose as much as 0.5% after dropping by a similar amount in the previous session. President Donald Trump said he was open to more talks with major economies including the European Union. But that appeared to be at odds with his insistence that letters to governments setting tariff rates are “the deals” for trade partners.
The precious metal has surged by more than a quarter this year, hitting a record above $3,500 an ounce in April, as the US’s aggressive and erratic trade policy enhanced its appeal as a store of value in uncertain times. However, the rally has stalled over the last three months as investors wait for more clarity on the eventual contours of the new trade system, and on signs they’re hesitant to buy gold at such elevated levels.
“If trade talks deteriorate before August, we could easily see bullion retest or even breach its former highs,” said Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at City Index. “For now, the market seems firmly in wait-and-see mode, keeping the gold forecast leaning cautiously bullish.”
Read more here.
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Nvidia eyes return to Chinese markets with China-compliant H20 chip
Nvidia (NVDA) is moving to reestablish its foothold in the Chinese market, announcing late Monday night that it plans to restart sales of its H20 AI chips in the region. The company has also unveiled a new GPU model specifically engineered to align with US export regulations.
In a company blog post, Nvidia said it is currently seeking approval from US authorities to resume shipments of the H20, with licensing expected “soon.” Once cleared, deliveries could begin in short order.
To further strengthen its China strategy, Nvidia announced a “new, fully compliant NVIDIA RTX PRO GPU” that “is ideal for digital twin AI for smart factories and logistics.”
CEO Jensen Huang recently met with both US and Chinese officials, including former President Donald Trump, in efforts to foster international cooperation on AI and reinforce Nvidia’s role in open-source AI research.
As of Monday’s close, Nvidia shares were down 0.5% at $164.07. However, the stock saw a rebound in after-hours trading, gaining 4.2% to $170.78.
