Stocks came back late in the session Tuesday, and ended mixed as investors looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's up coming testimony before Congress.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 22 points, or 0.08%, to 26,783 and the S&P 500 ended up 0.12%.
The Nasdaq rose 0.54% after trading lower earlier in the session, with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Get Report) leading the advance as Nomura Instinet raised its target price on the company to $37 from $33 after the chipmaker said some new products would be available worldwide.
A solid U.S. employment report for June has all but eliminated the chance of a 50-basis-point rate cut from the Fed when it meets in late July.
The re-pricing of support from the central bank, which is under renewed fire from President Donald Trump, has taken the steam out of global equity markets and re-focused investors toward weakening economic data and the prospect of the first back-to-back quarterly decline in profits since 2016.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC Tuesday that Powell's job was safe "at the present time." Trump has been a constant critic of Powell and news reports last month said he was looking to fire or demote Powell. Trump later said he made no such threat.
Jim Cramer Reveals What to Watch From Fed Chair Jerome Powell This WeekPowell is scheduled to provide testimony before Congress on both Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Earnings Fears May Be Growing but a Dovish Fed Offers HopeEarnings period in the U.S. kicks into high gear next week.
In trade news, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and Commerce Minister Zhong Shan on Tuesday "to continue negotiations aimed at resolving the outstanding trade disputes" between the world's two largest economies, CNBC reported, citing a U.S. official.
Cannabis stocks were down, following news that Canadian regulators had seized CannTrustHoldings' (CTST) cannabis after discovering it was being grown in private rooms. Canopy Growth (CGC - Get Report) , which fired co-CEO Bruce Linton last week, was also retreating, as was alcoholic beverage maker Constellation Brands (STZ - Get Report) , which invested $4.3 billion in Canopy.
CannTrust shares fell 23 cents, or 6.01%, to $3.60. The Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ -Get Report) fell 2 cents, or 0.06%, to $31.24. The AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (YOLO) fell 17 cents, or 0.75%, to $22.52.Shares of Acacia Communications (ACIA - Get Report) soared 35.1% to $64.91 after Cisco (CSCO - Get Report) agreed to acquire the optical equipment maker for about $2.6 billion, or $70 a share in cash. Cisco rose slightly to $56.34 a share.
Boeing (BA - Get Report) said second-quarter and first-half deliveries declined as the aerospace giant feels the continued fallout of the global grounding of the company's 737 MAX jet. Shares were up slightly to $353.09.
PepsiCo ( PEP - Get Report) dipped slightly to $131.74 a share despite posting stronger-than-expected second quarter earnings Tuesday and maintaining its full-year sales growth forecast. PepsiCo is Real Money's Stock of the Day. Watch: What Jim Cramer Didn't Like About PepsiCo's QuarterIn energy news, Brent crude contracts for August delivery, the global benchmark, were 15 cents higher and changing hands at $64.26 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate contracts for the same month, which are more tightly linked to U.S. gas prices, were 28 cents higher at $57.94 a barrel.
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