
US stocks tipped higher on Tuesday, with investors continuing to weigh US moves on Venezuela as they brace for a flurry of fresh data this week to shed light on the health of the economy.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) climbed 0.3% on the heels of Monday’s record-setting gain for the blue-chip index.
Markets are regrouping after energy stocks outperformed in the wake of the US ouster of Venezuela’s President Maduro. The likes of Chevron (CVX) rose slightly in early trading, while Halliburton (HAL) shares traded flat, consolidating the previous day’s solid gains. President Trump suggested the US may subsidize oil majors that invest in developing the country’s oil infrastructure, after his administration held talks with multiple companies about rebuilding.
A fresh record for the Dow is still in reach, even amid a pullback in bank stocks that lifted the blue chip-focused benchmark on Monday. A historic break above 50,000 is in play.
In addition, Wall Street has set aside AI hopes while it assesses Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD’s (AMD) competing roadmaps, laid out at CES in Las Vegas. CEO Jensen Huang launched Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin AI superchip platform, followed by AMD CEO Lisa Su’s first look at its rival Helios system. Eyes will be on updates from Intel (INTC), Qualcomm (QCOM), and other tech stalwarts as the marquee tech event continues this week.
Meanwhile, the focus is starting to turn to a flurry of jobs market and other data this week, as the flow of economic reports gets back on track. On Tuesday, the final reading of S&P Global’s Services PMI for the month of December showed the US services sector growing at its slowest pace in eight months.
The shutdown-induced dearth of data in recent months has made it trickier to gauge how the Federal Reserve will move on interest rates this year. Chair Jerome Powell has signaled policymakers will tread carefully until the picture of the labor market is clearer. That has made the December jobs report due Friday even more crucial than usual.
In commodities, copper (HG=F) continued to surge after breaking above $13,000 a ton for the first time, hitting another fresh record as worries about potential Trump tariffs spur stockpiles in the US, leaving the rest of the world short.
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