Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 17, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Tuesday, a day after the broad market index hit fresh records, as traders weighed the latest earnings reports and new trade developments.
The broad market index ticked up by 0.1% and was on pace for a new record closing high. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.4%. By contrast, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3%, bogged down by declines in tech stocks.
Chip stocks came under pressure, as downbeat sentiment in the space was fueled by a report by The Wall Street Journal that said SoftBank and OpenAI’s $500 billion AI project has faced difficulties in getting underway and scaled down its near-term plans. Broadcom was more than 3% lower and artificial intelligence darling Nvidia shed around 2%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing dropped nearly 2%.
Meanwhile, shares of aerospace and defense name Lockheed Martin were down 8% after the company’s revenue for the second quarter missed analyst estimates. Similarly, Philip Morris lost 6% after the tobacco company’s second-quarter revenue fell short.
However, those declines were offset by gains in the broader market outside of tech. Investors flocked to the health-care sector in particular, which outperformed with a rise of nearly 2% on the day. That was bolstered by the advance of IQVIA – which soared 19% on the heels of an earnings and revenue beat – as well as other names like Amgen and Merck. Small-caps also outperformed, as the Russell 2000 jumped about 1%.
This comes as 88 S&P 500 companies have reported, with more than 82% of those topping analysts’ estimates, according to FactSet data. Eyes are on commentary from companies about macroeconomic certainty, the impact of tariffs and details on demand and spending related to AI.
Google parent Alphabet and Tesla will report Wednesday, kicking off highly anticipated results from the “Magnificent Seven” companies. The megacap tech companies are expected to contribute to a significant amount of earnings growth this season.
Because of the recent rally in stocks, investors are watching for how far the market can still run from here.
“This market’s pretty stalled out,” Jay Hatfield, CEO at Infrastructure Capital Advisors, told CNBC. His 6,600 year-end target on the S&P 500 calls for almost 5% upside from Monday’s close. “We are going to need to have very strong tech earnings to propel the market much higher.”
Traders also assessed the latest on the tariff front, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the U.S. will likely extend a deadline to reach a deal with China. Bessent added that he’s planning to meet with Chinese officials in Stockholm next week.
President Donald Trump said later Tuesday that the U.S. has “concluded” a trade deal with the Philippines, which includes a 19% tariff on imported goods from the southeast Asian country. The Philippines has not yet confirmed that the deal has been made.
