Today's Edition
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters)
US stocks rose more than 1% early on Tuesday after the previous day's selloff, while the dollar recovered slightly, even as investors continued to assess U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of the Federal Reserve chair.
Investors also digested more first-quarter reports from US companies. Shares of industrial conglomerate 3M Co jumped 5% in early trading after the company beat first-quarter profit expectations, even as it noted a likely hit to 2025 profit from tariffs.
Trump stepped up his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates, calling him a "major loser", in a social media post on Monday, which raised concerns about the president's influence over the central bank. Investors worry the White House could try to replace Powell with someone who would cut rates. The jitters pushed gold prices above $3,500 in early trading on Tuesday, another all-time high.
"It's driven by the uncertainty of policy," said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president, advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut. Trump "wants to put pressure on Powell."
In stocks, "overall the trend is down, but it's not a fire sale, get rid of everything. People are looking for opportunity and pockets of value, which are there." Trump said last week he believes Powell will leave his job if Trump asks him to do so, although Powell himself has said he would not. It is unclear whether Trump has the authority to fire Powell, though lawsuits over unrelated firings by Trump are being watched as possible proxies. Investor confidence has already been shaken by Trump's back-and-forth announcements on tariffs, which investors worry could create severe disruption in world trade and hurt the global economy.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its forecasts for growth in the United States, China and most countries, citing the impact of US tariffs now at 100-year highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 531.19 points, or 1.39%, to 38,701.60, the S&P 500 rose 64.03 points, or 1.24%, to 5,222.23 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 212.61 points, or 1.37%, to 16,087.72.
Results from Tesla are due later on Tuesday.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 5.67 points, or 0.72%, to 788.78. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.27%.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.29% to 98.64, with the euro down 0.45% at $1.1461. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.06% to 140.69. The yen earlier notched a seven-month high against the dollar.
Against the Swiss franc, the dollar strengthened 0.68% to 0.815. Analysts said the dollar was still, however, in a fragile state amid concerns over the US administration's tariffs.
Recent weakness in the dollar, along with demand for safe-havens, helped gold hit a new all-time high of $3,500.05. Spot gold was last up about 0.8% at $3,452.20 an ounce.
The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 2.8 basis points to 4.377%, from 4.405% late on Monday.
Oil was higher.
US crude rose 0.89% to $63.64 a barrel and Brent rose to $66.79 per barrel, up 0.8% on the day.
