Major North American indexes ended mixed on Tuesday as gains in Coca-Cola and Apple offset losses in Tesla, while investors parsed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s latest comments. The TSX ended slightly in the red as lower metal prices weighed on the materials sector.
The U.S. central bank is no rush to cut its short-term interest rate again given the economy is “strong overall”, with low unemployment and inflation still above the Fed’s 2% target, Powell said in opening remarks at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.
Investors were also on the lookout for any new tariff comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, a day after he substantially raised levies on imports of steel and aluminum and said there would be announcements over the next two days about reciprocal tariffs on all countries that impose duties on U.S. goods.
“Valuations are elevated, company guidance is measured, inflation is persistent, government policy is uncertain, tariff talk is ongoing and global tensions are elevated. So in aggregate, the level of uncertainty is high, which implies increased volatility,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
Powell’s Senate testimony is the first of two days of hearings on Capitol Hill. He is set to speak to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
Traders expect at least one 25-basis-point rate cut from the Fed this year, and a 44% chance of another reduction of the same magnitude, according to LSEG data.
January consumer price index data is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET (1330 GMT) on Wednesday, before Powell’s appearance.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 27.03 points, or 0.1%, at 25,631.83, giving back some of the previous day’s gains.
The materials group, which includes fertilizer companies and metal mining shares, declined 1.8% as copper prices fell and gold pulled back from a record high.
Real estate was down 1% as bond yields climbed.
Shopify Inc ended 2.9% higher. The e-commerce company posted its best quarterly revenue growth in three years as healthy consumer spending and the firm’s efforts to load its platform with AI features for sellers helped drive strong holiday sales.
Energy also notched gains, ending up 1.3%. The price of oil settled 1.4% higher at US$73.32 a barrel as sanctions raised concerns about Russian and Iranian oil supplies.
In the U.S., Coca-Cola advanced 4.7% after the beverage maker beat fourth-quarter revenue estimates, helped by higher prices and resilient demand for its sodas and juices.
Tesla tumbled 6.3% a day after Reuters and others reported a consortium led by CEO Elon Musk offered $97 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls artificial intelligence startup OpenAI.
Apple climbed 2.2% after The Information reported Apple was partnering with Alibaba to develop and roll out artificial intelligence features for iPhone users in China.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.03% to end the session at 6,068.50 points.
The Nasdaq declined 0.36% to 19,643.86 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.28% to 44,593.65 points.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 15.4 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 14.9 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, eight rose, led by consumer staples, up 0.91%, followed by a 0.76% gain in energy. Consumer discretionary fell 1.2%.
Phillips 66 rose 4.7% after activist Elliott Investment Management said it had built a stake of more than $2.5 billion in the oil refiner.
DuPont de Nemours jumped almost 7% after the industrial materials maker raised its 2025 profit forecast on strong demand for electronics.
Water technology firm Ecolab rallied 6.2% after the company forecast higher-than-expected adjusted profit for 2025.
Fidelity National Information Services sank over 11% after the banking and payments processing conglomerate forecast first-quarter profit below estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.1-to-one ratio. Across the U.S. stock market, declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by a 1.3-to-one ratio.
Reuters, Globe staff