Investing.com - The S&P 500 closed sharply higher Tuesday for the sixth-straight day, underpinned by falling Treasury yields and signs of flexibility on tariffs from the White House as well as signs of further trade deals just as the earnings season continues to heat up.
At 4:00 PM ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 300 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.6%, and the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.6%.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is set to sign an order on Tuesday, easing some of his 25% tariffs on cars and car parts, said the reprieve will offer automakers short term help.
"We just wanted to help [automakers] enjoy this little transition, short-term. If they can’t get parts, you know, it has to do with a very small percentage. If they can’t get parts, we didn’t want to penalize them," Trump said.
In another positive note on the trade front, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that the U.S. was close to announcing a major trade deal.
The move comes a day after Secretary Bessent in an interview with CNBC on Monday, said many countries have offered "very good" tariff proposals to the U.S.
However, this positive tone was undermined by the White House slamming Amazon for reportedly planning to display the cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs next to the total price of products on its site.
“This is hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing earlier Tuesday.
Treasury yields drop as consumer confidence falls
Treasury yields slumped on Tuesday after the Conference Board announced consumer confidence fell 7.9 points to 86.0 in April. This was the lowest reading since May 2020 and below the 87.7 expected by economists polled by Investing.com.
"In the details of the report, a gauge of current conditions slipped 0.9 points to 133.5, a seven-month low, and a gauge of future expectations plunged 12.5 points to 54.4, the lowest reading since 2011," Stifel said in a Tuesday note.
Elsewhere, the Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now for Q1 fell to -2.7%, from -2.5%, and the JOLTS Job Openings for March fell to 7.192 million from 7.48 million.
Investors are also bracing for a series of other U.S. economic data releases later this week, including the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge – the PCE price index, and the monthly U.S. jobs report.
Busy earnings schedule awaits "megacaps"
Markets also awaited earnings from the “magnificent seven” megacaps, including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), this week.
Microsoft and Meta are set to report on Wednesday, while Apple and Amazon are scheduled to report their earnings on Thursday.
This is set to be a very busy earnings week, with about one-third of S&P 500-listed firms slated to post results this week.
Earlier Tuesday, General Motors (NYSE:GM) stock fell 0.7% despite the auto giant reporting first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations, as it suspended its guidance and froze share buyback program in response to new Trump tariffs.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) stock gained 0.8% after the soft drinks giant reported a drop in first-quarter revenue, even after price hikes.
Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) stock fell more than 3% after the streaming music service unveiled a current-quarter guidance for monthly active users that was below expectations.
United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) stock slipped 0.5% lower even after the delivery giant reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2025 results, with adjusted earnings and revenue surpassing analyst estimates.
Royal Caribbean (F:RCL) stock was flat after the cruise operator raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday, benefiting from strong bookings for its premium sailings to regions such as Alaska and Japan.
(Ayushman Ojha and Peter Nurse contributed to this article.)