U.S. Up In Positive Territory; Nasdaq Underperforms

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks are up firmly in positive territory a little past noon on Tuesday with investors assessing the possible impact of the Trump administration's economic policies and likely tariff proposals.

Optimism about some interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, and a drop in Treasury yields are contributing to market's upside. Investors are focusing on earnings updates and awaiting Prime Minister Donald Trump's policy moves for directional clues.

The recent retreat by treasury yields came as the U.S. inflation data released over the past few days led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Adding to the interest rate optimism, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC the central bank could lower interest rates multiple times this year if inflation eases as he is expecting.

Among the major averages, the Dow is moving along smartly and the S&P 500 is gaining good ground in positive territory, while the Nasdaq is up just marginally.

The Dow is up 413.30 points or 0.95 percent, at 43,901.13 a few minutes past noon. The S&P 500 is up 37.23 points or 0.62 percent, at 6,033.89, while the Nasdaq is up 64.14 points or 0.33 percent, at 19,694.34.

Apple Inc. shares are down by about 4 percent, following a series of downgraes due to weak iPhone sales and somewhat disappointing performance in hardware and services segments. Tesla is down 2.5 percent and PayPal is declining 1.7 percent.

Walgreens Boots Alliance is plunging nearly 14 percent, weighed down by the Deapartment of Justice's lawsuit against the company. The company, which made a multibillion-dollar settlement over opioid prescriptions two years ago, now faces a suit that alleges it despensed "millions of unlawful prescriptions." Merck, Chevron, Morgan Stanley and Airbnb are notably lower.

3M shares are up 4 percent, buoyed by stronger than expected quarterly earnings.

General Motors is rising 5.3 percent. Moderna is up 5.2 percent, while 3M, Dollar Tree, Caterpillar, Starbucks, Delta Airlines and Boeing are gaining 3 to 5 percent.

Target, Home Depot, Nike, Ford Motor, Abbott, American Express, Amazon, Walmart, American Airlines, Intel and Walt Disney are among the other prominent gainers.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended on a mixed note on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and said tariffs on China could hinge on a deal over TikTok's ownership.

European stocks closed higher today with investors digesting the executive orders signed by Trump soon after swearing-in for his second Presidential term.