Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 13, 2025.
NYSE
Stocks fell slightly on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 struggling to reach the all-time high set a month ago, as traders weigh headwinds on the global trade and inflation fronts.
The broad market index inched down 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite ticked down 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 206 points, or 0.4%. Earlier on Tuesday, the S&P 500 was less than 0.1% away from its intraday record.
Energy was the best-performing sector in the S&P 500, rising 1.9%. Halliburton and Valero Energy led the advance. Tech stocks also ticked higher.
That said, pullbacks of more than 1% in consumer discretionary and communication services weighed on the broader market. Meta Platforms lost 3%, while Amazon dropped 2%.
“Overall, the market is still trying to break out of the consolidation it’s been in since early December,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. “This week kicks off the retail portion of earnings season, but news out of Washington, especially on the tariff front, could continue to be a wild card for the markets.”
Wall Street is coming off a winning week for the major averages. The Dow gained roughly 0.6% last week, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.5%. The Nasdaq rose 2.6%.
Much of last week’s advance came Thursday after President Donald Trump’s plan for reciprocal tariffs on countries with levies on U.S. goods soothed investors who worried the tariffs would be more stringent.
Stocks have been choppy to start the year. However, they are still within reach of all-time highs as some inflation data components signal easier price pressure than suggested by the headline numbers. This could, in turn, keep the Federal Reserve on its path toward lowering rates.
“I think there’s a not-zero chance that the Federal Reserve reverses course next year as inflation becomes a 2026 story,” said Steve Wyett, chief investment strategist at BOK Financial. “That’s not being reflected in asset values at the present time. I’m more optimistic than I am pessimistic, but I think we also need to be realistic.”
The 30-stock Dow and the Nasdaq are about 1% off their recent records, while the S&P 500 is just 0.2% off its own milestone.
