Wall St recovers with help from Nvidia, Tesla
Tesla rose 4.2%, even as the EV-maker posted a big drop in second-quarter deliveries, with some traders saying the numbers were less severe than analysts' bleak forecasts. The stock has shed more than 20% this year.
Nvidia rose 2.2%, while Apple added 1.8%, keeping technology shares in the lead.
Markets opened lower after data showed US private payrolls fell unexpectedly in June and job gains in the prior month were smaller than initially thought, fueling increased bets of interest-rate cuts as soon as July.
The focus, however, is on the more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Thursday - set to be released a day earlier than usual, with markets closed on July 4 for Independence Day.
The reading is expected to show US job growth cooled in June and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
'What's happening now is the data is getting very close for the Fed to make a move. There's going to be a cut - it's just a matter of July or September and then we'll go from there,' said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading.
'The (April) selloff really shook a lot of people out and you might see more buyers coming in. I think momentum is very powerful in this market.'
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 touched record highs on Monday, recovering from their April slump as investors looked past trade uncertainties and geopolitical tensions to bet on accommodative monetary policy from the US central bank and AI potentially driving earnings for tech companies.
The blue-chip Dow was within 1.3% of hitting an all-time high.
At 11:58 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.29 points, or 0.00%, to 44,496.43, the S&P 500 gained 17.19 points, or 0.27%, to 6,214.98, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 152.33 points, or 0.75%, to 20,354.69.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was not considering extending the July 9 deadline for imposing tariffs and expressed doubts that an agreement could be reached with Japan, but said the US had struck a deal with Vietnam and expected one with India.
Meanwhile, Trump's massive tax-and-spending bill heads to the US House of Representatives for possible final approval after the Senate passed the legislation, which nonpartisan analysts say will add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors nursed losses, with utilities and healthcare falling 1% and 0.7%, respectively.
Centene tumbled about 40% and was set for its worst day on record, if losses hold, after the health insurer said it had withdrawn its 2025 earnings forecast after data showed a significant drop in expected revenue from its marketplace health insurance plans.
Shares of peers including Elevance Health fell 8%, Molina Healthcare sank 20% and UnitedHealth lost 3.5%.
Verint Systems rose 12.2% after Bloomberg News reported buyout firm Thoma Bravo was in talks to acquire the call-center software maker.
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