Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell in New York City on February 12, 2025.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
The S&P 500 rose on Tuesday, trading near a record as stocks stay resilient despite rising global trade fears and persistent inflation worries.
The broad market index gained 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, losing 83 points, or 0.2%.
Nvidia climbed 3% to lead the tech sector higher. Microsoft traded slightly higher as well.
Wall Street is coming off a winning week for the major averages. The Dow gained roughly 0.6% last week, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.5%. The Nasdaq rose 2.6%.
Much of last week’s advance came Thursday after President Donald Trump’s plan for reciprocal tariffs on countries with levies on U.S. goods soothed investors who worried they would be more stringent.
Stocks have been choppy to start the year but, even with ongoing concerns around trade and inflation, a look at the major averages show that they are not too far off their recent highs as investors scan for a catalyst for the next leg higher.
The 30-stock Dow and the Nasdaq are about 1% off their recent records, while the S&P 500 is just 0.2% off its own milestone.
“As earnings expectations accelerate and the share repurchase window opens for most companies, the key tenets of the bear argument are breaking down, and odds are improving that the S&P 500 breaks out of the trading range it has been stuck in since the election,” wrote Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.
