US stocks rose on Tuesday as investors analyzed President Donald Trump’s first policy moves, with promised tariffs on Mexico and Canada at the fore.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average led stocks higher with gains of over 1% after solid earnings from 3M ( MMM ). Shares jumped over 5% after the firm posted upbeat guidance for the full year, making it the Dow’s top performer.
The benchmark S&P 500 rose roughly 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained about 0.7% despite shaky midday performances from Tesla ( TSLA ) and Apple ( AAPL ). Shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) rose nearly 3% after a shaky start to the session.
Wall Street is bracing for volatility as the new president rushes through executive orders and actions, with energy and trade in the spotlight. It’s the first day of trading in Trump’s second term, as US markets are closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Markets received a dose of relief as Trump backed off from the barrage of universal tariff hikes that many had expected on his first day in office.
But the mood changed after Trump said later in the day that he was considering imposing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada starting on February 1. And Chinese stocks closed slightly higher on Tuesday, suggesting investors are not convinced that the US China reset is coming to avert a trade war.
Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year government bonds fell about 4 basis points to around 4.57% on Tuesday, recovering somewhat from a deeper decline in Asian trading.
The next batch of quarterly earnings will provide more food for thought for investors. Netflix ( NFLX ) is expected to deliver strong results when it reports after the bell.
