U.S. stocks were little changed by midday Tuesday, with small caps and the Dow lagging while tech held up, as the 10-year Treasury yield pushed to its highest level since 2007 and talks to end the Iran war showed little progress.
Mediators are working on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, yet Trump has rejected Iran's terms, which include lifting the U.S. blockade and oil sanctions.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 7,657, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 341 points, or 0.7%, to 51,140.
The Nasdaq 100 was little changed near 30,283. The Russell 2000 declined 0.7% to 2,797.
Oil remained elevated. WTI crude traded around $92 to $93 a barrel, while Brent hovered near $105 as traders weighed the diplomacy against Kpler data showing Hormuz flows at roughly half of pre-war levels.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose about 4 basis points to 5.29%, extending Monday's 8-basis-point jump. The 2-year yield held near 4.94% while the 30-year climbed to 5.61%, a level last seen in 2002.
Swaps markets are pricing roughly a full percentage point of Fed rate hikes over the coming year.
On the data front, August job openings fell to 7.079 million, below the 7.228 million expected and the prior 7.335 million, and Conference Board consumer confidence surprised to the downside. The PCE inflation report is due Wednesday and the jobs report on Friday.
Gold edged higher, with the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) up 0.8%, even as the metal remains down about 6% over the past month.
Tuesday's Performance In Major US Indices
According to market data:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) slipped 0.3%.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) fell 0.7%.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) was flat at 0.0%.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) retreated 0.8%.
Fair Isaac Crashes, Cruise Lines And Bloom Energy Surge
Chips and utilities led.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) rose 0.6% and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) gained 0.2%.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) was the worst sector, down 1.1%, followed by the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP), each down 0.9%. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) fell 0.8% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lost 0.7%.
Among industries, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) advanced 1.5%, while the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE:XOP) slid 0.4% and the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS) fell 0.6%.
Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) jumped 11.7% after reporting third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.43 versus the $1.35 consensus and revenue of $8.44 billion versus $8.39 billion expected. The cruise operator lifted its full-year adjusted net income outlook by more than $150 million and said 2027 booked occupancy and pricing are at record levels.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) gained 5.7% in sympathy and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) rose about 5%.
Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE) surged 12.7% as Jefferies raised its price target to $264 and Oracle reaffirmed its commitment to a project with the fuel-cell maker. Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) itself gained 5.2%.
In AI connectivity, Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) gained 6.3% as optical stocks rebounded following Citigroup's call for an $11 billion optical switching market by 2030. Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) rose 6.1% and Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) added 5.3% in the same optics rebound.
CarMax Inc. (NYSE:KMX) climbed 6.4% after fiscal second-quarter EPS of $1.16 topped the 68 cents analysts expected, on revenue of $7.88 billion versus $7.06 billion forecast.
Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) rose 6.2% with no confirmed company-specific catalyst on the tape, moving in line with the semiconductor and optical rally.
On the losing side, Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE:FICO) collapsed 26.7% after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte announced a unified mortgage pricing grid for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans that lets VantageScore compete in a market where FICO held a monopoly. The stock is down roughly 59% from a year ago.
The move hit credit-data peers too, with Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) down 3.4% after Goldman Sachs cut its price target.
The news also hit credit bureaus. TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) fell 4.6% after saying it would hold standalone VantageScore 4.0 pricing at 99 cents through December 2028, while Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) also traded lower on concerns the FHFA may reduce the three-bureau reporting requirement for mortgages.
Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) dropped 4.7% after announcing it will close its Cologne PVC plant to optimize its European chlorovinyls footprint.
