Wall Street rises again as the S&P 500 erases its loss for 2025

NEW YORK — Most U.S. stocks rose Tuesday after an encouraging report that showed inflation unexpectedly slowed across the country last month.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 index climbed 0.7%, coming off an even bigger gain to start the week after the United States and China announced a 90-day pause in their trade war to allow for negotiations.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.6% as AI and other tech stocks led the way.

Stocks have been roaring back since the S&P 500 fell nearly 20% below its record last month on hopes that President Trump will ease his stiff tariffs on trading partners worldwide before they create a recession and send inflation surging higher. The S&P 500, which sits at the center of many 401(k) accounts, is back within 4.2% of its all-time high set in February and positive again for the year.

Tuesday’s report said that even with all the uncertainty around trade, and even with many businesses rushing to import products from other countries before tariffs raise their prices, inflation slowed to 2.3% last month from 2.4% in March.

It’s encouraging because such data pull the economy further from a worst-case scenario called “stagflation,” in which the economy stagnates but inflation remains high. The Federal Reserve has no good way to fix that toxic combination. It could try to lower rates to help the economy, for example, but that probably would worsen inflation in the short term.

Even with Tuesday’s encouraging report, though, economists and analysts say inflation may still run higher in coming months because of Trump’s tariffs. That probably will leave the Fed waiting for more data to guide its decision on whether and when to cut interest rates in order to help the economy.

It’s similar to the wait that investors in general are enduring. With the Fed set to make no moves on interest rates for the time being, markets probably will trade “with negotiation and reconciliation headlines,” according to Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, global co-head and co-chief investment officer of multi-asset solutions within Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

“I think investors are aware that the trade deal is not done yet,” said Louis Wong, director for Phillip Securities Group in Hong Kong.

“I would advise investors to remain cautious in the near term and to be prepared for unexpected news from the trade front,” he added.

On Wall Street, Coinbase Global jumped 24% after the cryptocurrency exchange learned that its stock will join the widely followed S&P 500 index next week. That means many investment funds will likewise add it before trading begins Monday. Coinbase will replace Discover Financial Services, which is getting bought by Capital One Financial.

Stocks in the artificial intelligence industry also were strong. Nvidia rose 5.6% and was the biggest single force pushing upward on the S&P 500. It’s partnering with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund-owned AI startup Humain to ship 18,000 chips to the Middle Eastern nation to help power a new data center project.

Super Micro Computer, which builds servers used in AI, jumped 16%. GE Vernova, which is hoping to power vast AI data centers, rose 4%. Palantir Technologies gained 8.1%.

They helped offset UnitedHealth Group, whose shares tumbled 17.8% after it suspended its full-year financial forecast due to higher-than-expected medical costs. The nation’s largest health insurer also announced that Chief Executive Andrew Witty was stepping down for personal reasons and that Chair Stephen Hemsley will become CEO, effective immediately.

UnitedHealth was the main reason the Dow lagged behind other U.S. stock indexes.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 42.36 points to 5,886.55. The Dow fell 269.67 points to 42,140.43, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 301.74 points to 19,010.08.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher with hopes for the U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.48% from 4.45% late Monday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for Fed action, ticked up to 4.01% from 3.98%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. Stocks fell 1.9% in Hong Kong but rose 1.4% in Tokyo.

Automakers were among the big gainers in Japan. Nissan Motor Co. added 3% ahead of an announcement that it plans to lay off 20,000 of its workers as part of its restructuring efforts. The automaker said Tuesday that it racked up a loss of $4.5 billion in the last fiscal year.

Choe writes for the Associated Press.