Live Market Update S&P 500 (SPY): Buoyed by Defense Stocks, Markets Try to Rebound from Monday’s Disaster
Key Points
-
Earnings season has begun and aerospace and many defense stocks are reporting positive earnings surprises Tuesday.
-
Investors are looking for good news after yesterday’s stock market selloff, but the defense stocks are warning that full-year earnings could disappoint.
-
Wall Street is downgrading more stocks than it’s upgrading this morning.
Live Updates
Mission Accomplished: What Went DOW(n) Came Right Back Up
It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t always certain, but in the end, the stock market succeeded in bouncing back Tuesday. More than that, after losing 972 points Monday, Tuesday’s close at Dow 39,187, a 1,017 gain, completely erased Monday’s losses.
Today’s closing scores:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up 2.7%.
Nasdaq: Also up 2.7%.
And S&P 500: Up a respectable 2.5%.
Tune back in tomorrow to see if we can keep the momentum going.
All Eyes on Tesla Stock in the Day's Second Half
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) stock is set to report Q1 earnings after close of trading this evening. Trading of put and call stock options on the electric cars leader is reported to be light, with calls outnumbering puts roughly 10:9, indicating moderate optimism. Traders are predicting the stock could move 9% or even 10% after earnings come out, depending on whether the news is good or bad.
China-U.S. Tariffs Are Unsustainable
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent intensified his rhetoric regarding President Trump’s tariff stance, calling the China-U.S. standoff unsustainable and anticipating de-escalation soon, according to Bloomberg.
Markets, eager for positive signals, interpreted this as encouraging. The S&P 500 rose 2.66%, the Dow Jones climbed 2.70%, and the Nasdaq Composite surged 2.84%.
Lockheed Martin's Good News Day Keeps Getting Better
London’s The Telegraph is reporting that U.S. Vice President JD Vance is offering to allow India to buy F-35 stealth fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, a surprise development that cannot yet be incorporated in the stock’s share price. Few investors seem to have clued into the news yet, either, and Lockheed stock is up only 0.2% today.
More broadly, the market continues to rebound from Monday’s selloff, with the S&P and Dow now both up 2.2%, and the Nasdaq racing ahead for a 2.5% gain.
Bitcoin and Gold Move Higher
The price of Bitcoin moved above $90,000 and is up 6.40% over the past 5 days and gold is above $3,440/ oz. as money is flowing out of the market and moving to other asset classes.
The CBOE VIX, a volatility tracker that is used to track market fear is down 9% today, sitting at 30.80. Don’t expect this last and will likely see the VIX spike several times this week.
“Treasury yields climbed. Oil prices slid. Gold hit a new record.” That’s how The Wall Street Journal summed up market action on Monday, a day that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge a sickening 972 points. As markets reopen Tuesday, investors are looking for a bounce, even if only of the dead cat variety.
Here’s how major market indices are performing at the open:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: Up 1%.
Nasdaq Composite: Up 1.2%.
S&P 500: Up 1%.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: VOO) is up 1.2%.
Earnings
Earnings season is in full swing, and positive reports from big companies could assist with the rebound. Early reports suggest positive news from aerospace and defense giants GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), and RTX Corporation (NYSE: RTX).
All three companies reported earnings beats this morning, with GE turning in a $1.48 per share adjusted profit on sales of $9.9 billion, Lockheed reporting $7.28 per share in profit on $18 billion in sales, and RTX saying it earned $1.47 on $20.3 billion. At the same time, all three of these companies also warned that their full-year 2025 earnings could come in a bit below consensus forecasts, potentially spooking forward-looking investors.
Of further concern, fellow Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) missed earnings badly this morning, and lowered its forecast to boot. The company still expects to earn more than $25 per share this year, but Wall Street analysts were hoping for more than $28.
Analyst Calls
Perhaps dismayed by yesterday’s selloff, Wall Street analysts are broadly reining in their optimism this morning, with few upgrades on offer. Among these, Bank of America upgraded Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) to buy on confidence in the personal storage sector, while Citigroup is seeking value south of the border in PagSeguro (NYSE: PAGS) as it shifts from emphasizing revenue growth to profitability.
Less auspiciously, Barclays downgraded Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to underweight on margin concerns. Goldman Sachs cut Macy’s (NYSE: M) to neutral, and HSBC is a bit late to the game in downgrading UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) after its big earnings disappointment last week.
Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
© aappp / Shutterstock.com
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks