S&P 500 rises to record as Powell highlights risk of leaving rates high for too long: Live

Here are the stocks on the move midday:

• Nvidia — Shares of the artificial intelligence darling popped 1.8% following KeyBanc’s price target hike to $180, which implies about 40% upside from Monday’s close. The firm said demand for Nvidia’s H100 chip “remains robust” even with the imminent launch of Blackwell in the second half of the year.
• Helen of Troy — The housewares stock plummeted nearly 28%, hitting a new 52-week low during the session. The company posted an earnings miss for its first quarter of fiscal 2025 before the bell, earning 99 cents per share, excluding items. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of $1.59 per share. The company also slashed its full-year guidance.
• UiPath — The software stock fell 7% after the company announced it is planning on reducing about 10% of its global workforce, with most of the reductions expected to occur by the end of the first quarter in fiscal 2026. The company said this is part of a restructuring plan to manage its operating expenses.

Read the full list here.

— Sean Conlon

Stocks tied to the artificial intelligence theme outperformed Tuesday. Market darling Nvidia was the biggest advancer in the S&P 500, jumping 3% in midday trading even as the broader index gained 0.1%.

Corning was the second-best performing S&P 500 stock. Shares jumped 3% as of midday trading, extending its gains from the previous session when Corning advanced 12% after raising its second-quarter guidance. The company known for developing the Gorilla Glass used in iPhones said the AI boom has boosted demand for its optical connectivity products.

Chip stocks broadly outperformed. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF was higher by 0.4%, bolstered by stocks such as Micron Technology, which was up 2.5%.

Super Micro Computer shares were up nearly 2%.

— Sarah Min

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. economy is not running too hot, but still has the strongest growth of any developed nation.

“This is no longer an overheated economy,” the central bank leader said in his first day of monetary policy testimony this week. “This is an economy … that is more or less back by most measures to where it was before the pandemic. And that was a strong labor market, but it was not an overheated labor market.”

Later in the hearing, he was asked whether any economy in the world is performing better than the U.S.

“None comes to mind as I think in the majors. The answer would be no,” he said.

— Jeff Cox

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit fresh record highs at the market open on Tuesday, marking the second consecutive session of highs for both indexes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, pulling back 62 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 added 0.1% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%.

— Brian Evans

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Chemours — The chemical company added about 3% after UBS upgraded the company from buy to neutral, saying the stock could outperform as refrigerants see favorable demand and price drivers heading into next year.
• BP — The oil and gas giant’s U.S.-listed shares fell more than 4% after the company warned it expects to report an impairment of up to $2 billion. BP also sees weak margins from its refining business.
• Tempus AI — Shares popped nearly 4% after several Wall Street banks initiated coverage of the health-care diagnostics company with buy or overweight ratings. Tempus AI, which uses artificial intelligence to interpret medical tests, debuted on the Nasdaq in June.

For more, read here.

— Pia Singh

Pershing Square started a roadshow for the initial public offering of a closed-end investment vehicle, Bill Ackman’s firm announced Tuesday.

The IPO price for Pershing Square USA Ltd. is set at $50 per share and the fund is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker PSUS. Citigroup, UBS Investment Bank, BofA Securities and Jefferies are acting as global coordinators and bookrunners for the deal, Pershing Square said.

The firm previously said the closed-end fund will invest in 12 to 24 large-cap, investment-grade, “durable growth” companies in North America. It doesn’t have a performance fee in place, and Ackman is waiving the management fee for the first 12 months and after the first year will charge a flat 2% fee.

The move to take the vehicle public is widely seen as a way to leverage Ackman’s popularity among Main Street investors. The billionaire investor gained a wide following on social media platform X with 1.3 million followers, commenting on issues ranging from antisemitism to the presidential election.

— Yun Li

BP shares fell more than 4% on Tuesday after the European oil major warned investors of an impairment charge of up to $2 billion and weaker refining margins in the second quarter.

The post-tax impairment charge, in the range of $1 billion to $2 billion, includes costs related to BP’s ongoing review of a refinery in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, as well as other asset costs and contract provisions.

BP also expects lower refining margins for the second quarter, which will have a negative effect of between $500 million and $700 million. The oil major reports quarterly earnings on July 30.

— Spencer Kimball

The power of Federal Reserve rate cuts on the stock market could be overstated by investors, according to Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge.

“Our view remains cautious on the SPX as investors are too optimistic about the power of Fed cuts and not focused enough on the softening momentum happening in the economy,” he wrote. “The case for rate reductions to start in Sept is strong, but a modest easing cycle, as the approaching one will likely be, won’t be enough to immediately halt the growth slowdown presently underway.”

— Fred Imbert

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Monday continued their upward march. With the close of the regular trading session, the broad market index has notched 35 record closing highs in 2024, while the Nasdaq Composite has registered 25.

But many investors are anticipating a summer correction, and say investors should broaden their exposure before equities top out.

“You really want to stay broadly diversified,” Courtney Garcia, senior wealth advisor at Payne Capital Management, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Monday. “I don’t think that the momentum trade here is ending, especially in the short term, but when it changes, it’s going to change fast. And when you’re looking at valuations, there’s a lot of opportunities here.”

— Sarah Min

U.S. stock futures opened little changed Monday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 13 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.03% and 0.07%, respectively.

— Sarah Min