Abstract:Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day.
1. Mixed bag
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 436.36 points, or 0.98%, on Tuesday, as inflation fears and the first round of second-quarter bank earnings weighed on stocks. The S&P 500 also closed the session lower, falling 0.4%. But the Nasdaq Composite bucked Tuesday's trend: Boosted by a 4% gain in shares of Nvidia, the tech-heavy index rose 0.18% to close at an all-time high. June's consumer price index, released Tuesday, was in line with expectations, showing a 0.3% monthly increase that put the annual inflation rate at 2.7%. Investors will get more inflation data on Wednesday with June's producer price index, due in at 8:30 a.m. ET. Follow live market updates.
2. Bank check
Three more banks reported second-quarter results before the bell on Wednesday. Bank of America shares were up 1.3% in premarket trading after the company posted mixed results, beating Wall Street's earnings expectations but missing on revenue. The company said profit rose about 3% from the same time last year while revenue increased about 4%, which was less than analysts expected. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, beat the Street's top- and bottom-line estimates: The bank reported earnings of $10.91 a share and revenue of $14.58 billion for the second quarter. Morgan Stanley also posted a beat on the top and bottom lines on the back of increased trading revenues.
3. Crypto weak
Congress' so-called “Crypto Week” got off to a rocky start on Tuesday, when three bills aimed at regulating cryptocurrency failed a key procedural hurdle in the House of Representatives. Crypto stocks sank after the vote failed: Bitcoin fell below the $117,000 level, stablecoin issuer Circle dropped about 4.5% and crypto exchange Coinbase sank 1.5%. Thirteen Republicans joined Democrats to oppose the legislation in a vote of 196-223, blocking the bills from moving forward. It was a rare showing of disagreement between GOP congressmembers and President Donald Trump, who only hours earlier voiced his support for the crypto bills in a Truth Social post. But later Tuesday evening, Trump said that “11 of the 12 Congressmen/women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act” had agreed to support the rule after meeting with the president in the Oval Office.
4. Deal or no deal?
Trump on Tuesday said that the U.S. had reached a trade deal with Indonesia that will levy a 19% tariff on goods from the southeast Asian country. Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto said in an Instagram post early Wednesday that he had a “very good call” with Trump, but he did not confirm the terms of the trade agreement. Trump told reporters that as part of the deal, the U.S. will “pay no tariffs” and have “access into Indonesia, which we never had.” In a Truth Social post further detailing the agreement, the president wrote that “Indonesia has committed to purchasing $15 Billion Dollars in U.S. Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets, many of them 777's.” Just last week, Trump threatened to impose a 32% tariff on Indonesia — the same rate he announced in early April on “Liberation Day.”
5. Off Target
Has “Tarzhay” lost its allure? Shares of Target have tumbled more than 60% since hitting an all-time high in 2021, its annual revenue has stalled for the past four years, and the company said in May that it expects a decline in sales this year. Target executives have characterized the slump as temporary, citing higher inflation, weaker discretionary spending, Trump's tariffs and backlash to its rollback of its DEI efforts. But CNBC spoke to Target customers, former employees, vendors and analysts who told a different story. They said that once-loyal shoppers are turning away from the store because it no longer stands out: Its products are duller, the in-store experience is worse and it no longer celebrates diversity, they said. “They have kind of lost their identity,” one former employee, who worked for Target for nearly a decade before leaving to work for a competitor, told CNBC.