Stocks churned as Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell noted progress on inflation, but reiterated that the central bank was not quite ready to cut rates. S&P 500 was pulled in different directions as Tesla shares jumped and Nvidia shares declined.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 55.25 points to begin Tuesday at 39,114.27.
The S&P 500 index dipped 1.77 points to 5,473.32.
The NASDAQ poked up 8.1 points to 17,887,40.
“We’ve made quite a bit of progress and in bringing inflation back down to our target,” Powell said at a central banking forum.
“We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2% before we start the process of reducing type or policies of loosening policy,” he added.
Tesla shares helped support the S&P 500 as Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company reported better-than-expected deliveries for the second quarter. The stock, which had a rough first half, jumped 7%.
Nvidia shares fell nearly 2%, weighing on the S&P 500, as investors questioned whether the artificial intelligence darling could continue its big year. The shares are up 147% so far in 2024. Drugmaker Eli Lilly, another winner from the first half of the year, saw shares decline 2.9%.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell slightly, raising yields to 4.44% from Monday’s 4.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subtracted two cents at $83.36 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices deleted $2.90 to $2,336
