US equities closed mostly higher on Tuesday, remaining close to last week’s record levels, supported by strong corporate earnings. At the same time, uncertainty over the risk of further escalation involving Iran kept speculative sectors in check. The S&P 500 edged up, the Dow gained 0.5%, and the Nasdaq 100 was little changed.
President Trump maintained pressure on the region by threatening not to extend the ceasefire set to expire tomorrow, thereby keeping restrictions on energy exports in place. Markets later gave back part of their early gains and Treasury yields moved higher after both core retail sales and ADP employment data came in significantly above expectations, reinforcing the picture of a resilient US economy.
Among individual movers, Amazon rose more than 1% after committing over $20 billion in investment in Anthropic. UnitedHealth jumped more than 9% following robust earnings, providing notable support to the Dow, while GE Aerospace slipped modestly after its earnings call. Apple edged lower after naming hardware chief John Ternus as its next CEO, set to succeed Tim Cook in December.
