Stock market live Tuesday: Dow rolls over, Trump blames Powell for fall, Facebook drops (2024)

This is a live blog. Check back for updates.

4 pm: Stocks close off their highs

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit record highs earlier in the day but later rolled over. The 500 stock index closed up about 5 points and the Nasdaq finished up 10 points. President Donald Trump blamed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments to the Senate banking committee for the roll over in major averages but it is unclear if Powell's comments played a role. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat. Facebook shares fell 2.8%. — Fitzgerald

3:50 pm: Broad array of stocks hit records as market reaches milestone levels

3:03 pm: Final hour of trading: Stocks hit record highs before cutting gains

With just under one hour left in the trading session, the major averages were trading well below the intraday record highs set earlier in the day. The Dow traded around the flatline after jumping more than 130 points. A roll-over in Boeing and declines in Microsoft and led the 30-stock average lower. —Imbert

2:48 pm: Bitcoin holds over $10,000, hits highest level since September

Bitcoin is trading more than 4% higher, lifting the cryptocurrency to its highest level since Sept. 14. Earlier in the day, it hit a high of $10,383.90. Around 2:45 p.m., its trading at $10,256.08. —Imbert, Francolla

1:53 pm: T-Mobile, Chipotle, Home Depot among S&P 500 stocks to hit all-time highs

1:14 pm: Oil market on 'Russia watch' as prices move higher

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the head of Russia's largest oil producer Tuesday, ahead of a meeting Wednesday between Russia's energy minister and its oil companies. Rosneft declined comment on talks between Putin and Igor Sechin, who has previously opposed the OPEC+ deal to hold back 1.8 million barrels in oil production. Saudi Arabia is leading OPEC in seeking a deal now to deepen those cuts to stem oil's sharp decline, but so far Russia has balked. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading up 1.5%, just above $50 per barrel. Oil had lost more than 20% in less than a month on concerns the coronavirus is crushing demand. "We're on Russia watch," said John Kilduff of Again Capital. He said oil prices are rising in part on the possibility that Russia will agree to the cuts. Energy Minister Alexader Novak said Russia was still studying the deeper cuts, and Tass reported he will meet Russian oil companies to discuss a bigger cut. "Historically, that's when they get told what to do. Right now Novak's not showing his cards. If they dither, oil goes go down. To the extent they come through and chip in with the cut, oil goes back up," Kilduff said. —Domm

1:12 pm: Goodyear shares plummet after missing earnings estimates

Goodyear Tire's stock price fell more than 14% on Tuesday after missing estimates on the top and bottom lines for its fourth quarter. The tire company reported 19 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $3.71 billion in revenue. Analysts expected 52 cents per share and $3.86 billion of revenue, according to FactSet. Unit volumes for tires and original equipment declined year over year, and CEO Richard Kramer said in a release that company is dealing with "recessionary demand trends in many international markets." —Pound

1:10 pm: Dollar off highs, but gaining strength as safe haven

The dollar is a little lower at midday but it has been standing tall lately as the world looks to it as a safe haven during the outbreak of coronavirus. The euro briefly broke below $1.09 Tuesday morning, its lowest level since Oct. 1. The euro was at $1.092 to the dollar at midday, after dipping to $1.088. Many strategists had expected the dollar to weaken in 2020, and now some say the current uptrend can continue. The dollar index is up 1.4% month-to-date. "There's very little between 1.088 and 1.05 [euro/dollar]. I think that's where we're heading. I thought the dollar was turning," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global FX. "But the latest data was positive in the U.S., and negative in Europe and China has been hit. European politics are a mess." The euro had been stronger versus the dollar, ahead of last week's Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses because investors feared left-leaning Sen. Bernie Sanders would win. The Vermont senator took the second most delegates in Iowa but he is leading in polls as voters go to polls in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Chandler said there's been a change in attitude about him, and now it's helping push the dollar higher.
"It seems Sanders goes up in the polls, and everyone says Trump wins," said Chandler. —Domm

1:02 pm: Powell testimony has ended for day

The Powell testimony before the House Financial Services Committee has ended. The Dow is up 50 points. The 10-year Treasury yield is hovering around 1.59%, up 5 basis points for the day. Powell heads to the Senate on Wednesday.

12:56 pm: Powell asked about Trump tweet blaming him for Dow pullback Tuesday

Rep. Al Lawson, D-FL, asked Powell about Trump's Tuesday tweet blaming him for the stock market cutting gains during his testimony (details below). Powell responded: "I'm not following the market as I sit here answering your questions... My colleagues and I are completely focused on using our tools to support the American people, to support the achievement of our goals and that's really all we're focused on." —Imbert

12:54 pm: Powell says severe weather and climate change will factor into forecasts

Fed chair Jerome Powell told Illinois Rep. Jesus Garcia that the central bank was monitoring the Bank of England's efforts to quantify the impact of climate change and will incorporate effects of climate change into near-term economic forecasts. "As severe weather becomes more common, and that's connected to climate change, you will see those things entering the forecast period, and certainly entering our supervisory practices as well as our economic forecasting," Powell said. In his questioning, Garcia referenced CNBC's Jim Cramer saying that institutional investors are not interested in buying oil stocks as an example of the risks climate change could pose to the financial system. — Pound

12:33 pm: California Democrat Rep. Katie Porter grills Powell over Bezos party

California Democrat Katie Porter chastised Powell over his attendance at a party hosted at the home of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos earlier this year hosted a black-tie dinner in Washington, D.C. for the members of the exclusive Alfalfa Club, a collection of America's most important political and business leaders.Though Powell assured Porter he did not speak to Mr. Bezos (or Jared and Ivanka Trump, who were also in attendance), the congresswoman argued that even the appearance of bias at the Fed could undermine its mission to insulate itself from political or corporate influence. "Can you imagine how attending a lavish party at Jeff Bezos's $23 million home, along with Jared and Ivanka and the CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase Jamie Dimon, might give off the sense to the public that you are not, in fact, immune from external pressures?" she asked. "I would certainly hope not," he replied. -Franck

12:06 pm Markets at midday - Stocks off their highs

Around noon ET, the major averages were trading well off their highs. The Dow was up just 7 points after jumping 138 points to a record. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. —Imbert

12:03 pm: Powell rejects negative rates

President Donald Trump on Tuesday leaned on the Fed again to consider negative interest rates, but Chairman Jerome Powell said he doesn't think that is the best route for the U.S. One reason, he says, is that it would hurt banks and that would have ripple effects through the system. "When you have negative rates, you wind up creating downward pressure on bank profitability, which limits credit expansion." – Cox

11:58 am: FTC probe of big tech not helping market

Shares of major technology companies were all off their highs of the day as the Federal Trade Commission said it is looking into past acquisitions of Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. The FTC will require the companies to give information on past acquisitions not previously reported to the antitrust agencies under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Shares of Microsoft dipped 0.6% and Facebook, which was downgraded by Pivotal Research on Tuesday, fell 2.4%. – Fitzgerald

11:51 am: Figuring out why the market rolled over

11:41 am: Trump blames Powell for market turn

11:35 am: Dow turns negative

The Dow has turned negative, giving up a gain earlier of more than 130 points. It does not appear to be related to Powell's testimony as bond yields are holding steady. It appears more to be a combination of the drop in Boeing shares (noted earlier) and a decline in oil off its highs as economic concerns about the coronavirus linger. Facebook, down 2%, is also a notable laggard. -Melloy

11:29 am: Powell's biggest worry

Asked by Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Stivers what he considers the biggest threat to the U.S. financial system, Powell answered cybersecurity. "The thing that we worry about a lot is cyberattacks. I think we have a great gameplan for traditional issues like bad loans and things like that. It's more cyberattacks is really the frontier where you worry. And we work very, very hard on that — all the agencies do, we all work together — the institutions themselves work very hard. But that, I would say, is a major focus." - Franck

11:24 am: UBS recommends buying gold as a coronavirus hedge

A strategist at UBS recommended investors buy gold as a hedged to a possible slowdown from the coronavirus. In a note, Mark Haefele highlighted the precious metal is up more than 3% this year and, "while safe-haven demand is likely to fade as the virus outbreak is brought under control, the yellow metal still benefits from fundamental support." Gold futures for April delivery were down 0.8% Tuesday as stocks hit record highs. —Imbert, Bloom

11:15 am: Stocks off highs as Powell speaks, Boeing falls

10:48 am: Powell says Fed will transition away from repo, but there's still big demand for it

Powell says the Fed will gradually transition away from repo operations, as it builds up reserves. But institutions were actively tapping the Fed's facilities early Tuesday, just before he spoke. The 14-day repo operation was oversubscribed, and that wasn't the only time lately. The Fed has been supplying extra funds to the short-term lending market, to make sure financial institutions have access to enough cash since last September, when repo rates spiked due to high demand. "We're raising the underlying level of liquidity by raising reserves to a level higher than where we thought were needed," he told Congress.The Fed accepted $26.6 billion in Treasurys but was offered $40.4 billion. The average weighted rate was 1.588%. The Fed took $3.4 billion in mortgages while $13.3 billion were offered. -Domm

10:45 am: Some interesting ETF highs Tuesday

10:41 am: Powell: It's 'too early to say' how much coronavirus will impact US economy

The Fed chairman thinks more information is needed before determining how the coronavirus outbreak will hurt the U.S. economy. "The question for us is what will be the effects for the U.S. economy? Will they be persistent? Will they be material?" Powell said while testifying in front of Congress. "I think it's just too early to say. We have to resist the temptation to speculate on this. So, we'll be watching that carefully." Global capital markets have been grappling with the outbreak as investors assess which companies and countries will take a hit from it. Powell also noted: "I think we know there will be effects on China through some part of the first half of the year and China's close neighbors and major trading partners." —Imbert

10:36 am Powell on the balance sheet expansion

"Our expectation is that we will continue our bill purchases at least through— at least into the second quarter and continue repo operations at least through — into April. The sense is that we're building up a level of reserves to a level that will mean that we don't have to be involved in open market operations on an ongoing basis. And that's going to take that period of time. And as the underlying level of reserves rises due to our bill purchases, the need for repo will decline. And sometime around the middle of the year we'll reach that level of ample reserves. And from that point forward, the balance sheet will grow at trend demand for our liabilities." - Franck

10:34 am: Dow hits record

The Dow just joined the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite at record levels, up more than 130 points to session highs. The Dow's new record level is 29,415.39. -Melloy

10:22 am: Powell giving his opening statement

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is giving his opening statement to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, which was first released at 8:30 a.m. For a summary of that statement, click here. A live stream of Powell's testimony can also be found here.

10:16 am: Momentum ETF hits all-time high

The iShares Momentum ETF (MTUM) hit new intraday all-time high led by RingCentral, SBA Communications, Seattle Genetics, and Roku. RingCentral is up more than 8%, on pace for its best day since October and SBA Communications is up more than 7% on pace for its best day since January 2016. —Francolla

9:52 am: China stocks rising despite coronavirus concerns

The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) is up 1.7%, on pace for its 6th positive day in 7 and on pace for its best day since Feb 4th when the ETF gained 2.69%. Month-to-date, FXI is up 6.2%. Top holdings in the fund include Tencent and China Construction Bank. —Francolla

9:42 am: Stocks well off their highs ahead of Powell testimony

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite set new records shortly after the open but they have since pared those gains. The Dow was last up about 65 points. One notable laggard dragging down the market was Facebook, which was down more than 2%. Powell Q&A before Congress starts at 10 a.m. ET. -Melloy

9:30 am: Stocks open higher

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up 0.42% or more than 120 points on Tuesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.43% or 14 points and the Nasdaq Composite rose 50 points at the open. Apple and Amazon are among the biggest contributors to the gains at the open. —Fitzgerald

9:27 am: Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls of the day

8:55 am: European stocks are on fire

The Stoxx 600, the broadest measure of European stocks, climbed 0.8% to a record high on Tuesday. The index is also up more than 4% this month, outperforming the , which is up 3.9% in February. European stocks have been on fire this year as ECB President Christine Lagarde lobbies for more fiscal stimulus in the region, particularly from Germany. —Imbert, Pisani

8:43 am: Ray Dalio says coronavirus impact on market is probably exaggerated

Bridgewater founder and billionaire investor Ray Dalio said Tuesday that the impact from the coronavirus may be overdone. The virus, which has now killed more than 1,000 people, "probably had a bit of an exaggerated effect on the pricing of assets," Dalio told attendees at the annual Milken Conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. "Because of the temporary nature of that, I would expect more of a rebound. It most likely will be something that in another year or two will be well beyond what everyone will be talking about," he added. —Stevens

8:40 am: Coronavirus death toll tops 1,000

As of Monday night, the Chinese government said there were 2,478 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 108 additional deaths, bringing the total numbers to 42,638 cases and 1,016 deaths in the country. "With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during opening remarks of a meeting between more than 400 researchers and national authorities, Reuters reported Tuesday. The virus has spread to at least 25 other nations. — Stevens

8:32 am: Futures largely unchanged following release of Powell's remarks

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks before Congress were released at 8:30 am and we are seeing a muted reaction so far. If anything, futures have come off slightly with Dow futures up only 90 points after being up more than 100 points before the testimony was released. Powell, in his semiannual testimony before Congress, will say that the U.S. economy appears "resilient," that the Fed is closely monitoring the coronavirus, and that the "current stance of monetary policy will likely remain appropriate," according to remarks. Traders will now focus on the Q&A portion of his testimony, which begins at 10 a.m. ET. -Melloy

8:19 am: Sprint, T-Mobile deal approved by judge

A U.S. District judge ruled in favor of the proposed merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. Sprint's stock soared more than 60% in extended trading, while T-Mobile shares gained 8.8%. —Pound

8:12 am: Under Armour drops 13%

8:09 am: Powell to talk economy, policy before House panel

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appears Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee as part of his mandated semiannual testimony before Congress. On tap will be comments about general economic conditions, the state of monetary policy and the Fed's view on international developments including the coronavirus. Powell then will take questions from committee members. It's off to the Senate tomorrow for the central bank chief. —Cox

8:05 am: Dow set to rise more than 100 points as coronavirus fears dim