Wall Street Hits Fresh High as Earnings Divide Markets and Dollar Slides Further

By Rosemary

U.S. stocks finished mixed but higher overall on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 pushing to a new record as investors weighed a flood of corporate earnings against growing currency-market volatility and global economic uncertainty.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to edge past its previous all-time high set earlier this month, underscoring the market’s resilience despite sharp divergences beneath the surface. The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.9%, powered by gains in large technology stocks, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 408 points, or 0.8%, dragged down by steep losses in health care shares.

Trading was marked by pronounced swings as investors split between companies delivering stronger-than-expected profits and those offering cautious outlooks for the year ahead. The uneven performance highlighted the pressure on corporations to justify lofty stock valuations after a prolonged rally that has lifted major indexes to repeated records.

Currency markets showed even sharper moves. The U.S. dollar weakened broadly, falling more than 1% against the euro, Japanese yen and Australian dollar shortly after U.S. equity trading ended. A widely followed index measuring the dollar’s strength against a basket of major currencies sank to its lowest level since 2022.

The dollar’s decline has accelerated in recent weeks amid renewed trade tensions and concerns about U.S. fiscal stability. Investor sentiment has been unsettled since President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on several European countries, tying the warnings to disputes over U.S. efforts to assert control over Greenland.

Combined with longer-standing worries about rising government debt, the rhetoric has fueled periodic pullbacks from U.S. assets in global markets, a trend some investors have dubbed a “Sell America” trade.

On Wall Street, Corning emerged as one of the session’s standout performers, surging 15.6% after announcing a deal with Meta Platforms valued at up to $6 billion. Under the agreement, Corning will supply optical fiber and cable for Meta’s expanding network of data centers.

The scale of the contract is large enough to prompt Corning to expand its optical-fiber manufacturing operations in Hickory, North Carolina, reinforcing optimism about long-term demand tied to artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.

General Motors also provided support to the broader market, climbing 8.7% after reporting quarterly profits that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The automaker announced a multibillion-dollar share buyback program, signaling confidence in its cash flow and future prospects. HCA Healthcare rose 7.1% after posting stronger-than-expected results and unveiling its own plan to return capital to shareholders through stock repurchases.

Those gains helped offset a sharp selloff in UnitedHealth Group, which plunged 19.6% despite delivering a quarterly profit that modestly beat forecasts. Investors focused instead on the company’s outlook for the coming year, with its revenue forecast falling short of expectations and pointing to slower growth than in 2025.

The broader health care sector came under heavy pressure following a U.S. government proposal that outlined a smaller-than-expected increase in reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage plans. The announcement rattled insurers, with Humana tumbling 21.1%, Elevance Health dropping 14.3% and CVS Health sliding 14.2%. The moves reflected fears that tighter reimbursement growth could squeeze margins across the industry.

Earnings results elsewhere were mixed. UPS inched up 0.2% after reporting stronger profits and issuing a revenue forecast for 2026 that topped expectations, even as the shipping giant announced plans to cut 30,000 jobs as part of a cost-reduction effort. American Airlines sank 7% after posting profits that fell well short of forecasts, raising concerns about pricing power and demand in the airline industry.

The contrasting results underscored the market’s current dynamic, in which investors are rewarding companies that demonstrate clear earnings momentum and disciplined capital returns while punishing those with weaker outlooks. With stock prices having surged over the past year, analysts note that sustained profit growth will be critical to easing concerns that equities have become too expensive.

Attention is now turning to a packed earnings calendar later in the week. Several of Wall Street’s most influential companies, including Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla, are scheduled to report results on Wednesday, followed by Apple on Thursday. Expectations for those reports are high, given the outsized role that large technology firms have played in driving recent market gains.

Some of those companies already helped lift the S&P 500 on Tuesday. Microsoft shares rose 2.2%, while Apple added 1.1%, reflecting continued investor enthusiasm for dominant technology franchises seen as better positioned to weather economic uncertainty.

By the close of trading, the S&P 500 had gained 28.37 points to finish at 6,978.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 408.99 points to 49,003.41, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 215.74 points to 23,817.10.

Beyond corporate earnings, investors are closely watching monetary policy. The Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday, with markets widely expecting policymakers to keep the benchmark rate unchanged. Inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target, limiting its ability to ease policy without risking renewed price pressures. Traders, however, continue to bet that rate cuts could resume later in the year if inflation shows clearer signs of cooling.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were little changed ahead of the Fed’s announcement. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 4.24% from 4.22% late Monday.

Yields had dipped earlier in the session after a report from the Conference Board showed U.S. consumer confidence weakened last month, defying expectations for a modest improvement. Confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014, even below readings seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising concerns about household sentiment and future spending.

Overseas markets mostly advanced. Stock indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia, supported by optimism over trade developments and regional economic momentum. India’s Sensex added 0.4% after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India and the European Union had reached agreement on a long-awaited free trade deal.

The pact, covering economies that together represent about 2 billion people, follows nearly two decades of negotiations and ranks among the world’s largest bilateral trade agreements. Its timing is notable as Washington moves to impose steep import tariffs on both India and the EU.

In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.4%, marking two of the strongest performances among major global markets.