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Stocks churned Tuesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted progress on inflation, but reiterated that the central bank was not quite ready to cut rates. The S&P 500 was pulled in different directions as Tesla shares jumped and Nvidia shares declined.
The Dow Jones Industrials dropped 60.23 points Tuesday afternoon at 39,109.28.
The S&P 500 index eked ahead 0.64 points to 5,475.73.
The NASDAQ gained 22.31 points to 17,901.61.
“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 $18.80, or 9%, to $228.64.
Nvidia shares fell $2.22, or 1.8%, to $122.08, 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 $16.82, or 1.8%, to $897.55.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell slightly, raising yields to 4.45% from Monday’s 4.48%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices subtracted 14 cents at $83.24 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices deleted $8.80 to $2,330.10
