The Nasdaq retreated from a record ahead of earnings from Google parent Alphabet and other tech giants, while European markets fretted over an August 1 deadline for the EU to avert steep tariffs from US President Donald Trump.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 finished higher, but the Nasdaq dropped 0.4 percent to snap a six-day streak of records.
Earnings from Alphabet and Tesla are due on Wednesday, the first two of Wall Street's “Magnificent Seven” equities to report this season. Several of the largest tech names — such as Apple and Facebook parent Meta — do not report results until next week.
Corporate profit reports so far have painted a generally resilient picture of the US economy, but with gathering clouds in some sectors — particularly automobiles — from Trump's levies on major trading partners.
Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said Tuesday's drop in Nvidia and some other tech names suggested profit-taking after a heady rise.
“It's a difficult earnings season where expectations are really low but stocks are already priced very high,” Hogan said.
In Europe, only London ended the trading day in the green. Paris and Germany both finished solidly in the red.
The European Union is among Washington's trading partners that face potentially steep tariffs on August 1 if they do not strike a deal with Trump's administration.
“European markets have been getting increasingly jittery as the (August 1) deadline approaches,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
“With little sign of progress so far, investors are preparing for possible tariff retaliation from the EU.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for tariff talks, as a separate mid-August deadline approaches for US levies on China to snap back to steeper levels.
– Big earnings reports –
US auto giant General Motors reported a 35-percent plunge in second-quarter profits Tuesday following a $1.1-billion hit from US tariffs, but confirmed its full-year forecast.
Its shares plunged 8.1 percent.
Elsewhere, “expectations for the earnings season include accelerated profit growth for major US technology companies in the second half of the year,” said Jochen Stanzl, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Tuesday it would invest $50 billion in the United States by 2030 amid Trump's threats to impose tariffs on the sector.
The dollar continued to lose ground, while oil prices also dropped amid worries about reduced global economic activity going forward.
