Dow jumps 100 points to close out best first half in 5 years; Nasdaq posts best quarter since 2020: Live updates

The three leading U.S. indexes finished with gains on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 finished up 0.79% to end the day at 7,499.36, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.52% to reach 26,213.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 136.46 points, or 0.26%, to settle at 52,319.20.

— Sean Conlon

Truist Securities sees turnaround potential for Fortune Brands Innovations after appointing Jesse Singh as its new CEO.

Analyst Keith Hughes upgraded the stock to buy from hold while increasing the price target to $70 from $45, implying 37% upside from Monday’s close.

Singh, the former CEO of AZEK, turned around the company after a successful marketing shift, smoother product production, and winning new distribution customers. Analysts hope Singh will improve the home and security products company’s capital allocation and brand execution.

“Investors have been very unhappy with capital allocation for many years at FBIN, as well as brand level execution. We believe Mr. Singh is uniquely suited to address these issues,” Hughes said in a note to clients on Tuesday. “Mr. Singh’s work at AZEK shows the potential to improve FBIN’s best businesses.”

Fortune Brands Innovation is up 8% this year, performing slightly below the S&P 500.

Fortuen Brand’s Innovation is up 8%

Morgan Stanley remains confident in UnitedHealth.

The bank increased its price target on shares to $468 from $453, implying a 13% gain from Monday’s close.

Analyst Erin Wright is confident that the health insurance company will beat Wall Street estimates on its Q2 earnings, setting a positive track for other Managed Care Organizations. UnitedHealth is also investing in AI initiatives and executing its Optum Health business strategy well.

“Utilization commentary has turned incrementally reassuring throughout the quarter, which bodes well for MCOs into 2Q EPS. We expect UNH will set a positive tone when it kicks off reports on July 16,” the analyst said in a note to clients on Monday. “UNH is investing $1.5B in AI initiatives, …We expect this will become increasing important for the stock as AI proof-points build.”

UnitedHealth is outperforming the S&P 500, growing 26% this year.

UnitedHealth Group is up 26% this year

Deutsche Bank expects vehicle deliveries from Tesla in the second quarter to be above the company’s official estimates by about 10,000 units, mostly due to European sales.

That would represent volume growth of 16% percent on the quarter and 8% on the year.

“International strength is doing the heavy lifting with Europe acting as the standout driver and China providing further support,” Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu wrote in a Tuesday note.

Yu said he thinks that Tesla deliveries will be “at least flattish” at about 1.63 million on the year.

Tesla reported official second-quarter delivery numbers last year on July 2.

— Tobias Burns

Logitech shares fell almost 5% today after Bank of America downgraded stock to underperform from neutral.

Analyst Didier Scemama lowered the price target to $86 from $108, implying a 13% downside from Monday’s close.

“Demand for Logitech products is likely to worsen materially over the course of the next 12-18m given material price hikes across PCs, tablets, smartphones and gaming systems.” the analyst said in a note to clients on Tuesday.

Scemama points to recent price hikes on Apple’s Macbook and Ipad and Microsoft’s Xbox due to a shortage of memory and storage chips, noting the demand for computer accessories and tech is likely to fall alongside it.

“We believe this creates a material risk of demand elasticity and delayed refresh cycles across adjacent peripheral categories,” the analyst said.

Logitech is down 7% this year, underperforming to the S&P 500.

Logitech is down 7% this year.

Honeywell Technologies is poised to see its shares rise after kicking its aerospace business to the curb, according to Daiwa Capital Markets.

The investment firm initiated coverage of the aerospace name with a “2/outperform” rating. It also put a $255 price target on shares, suggesting 12% upside from Monday’s close.

“We assign a 2/Outperform rating to HON stock post-spin to reflect margin expansion potential led by stranded cost removal and [independent amount] margins,” Daiwa Capital Markets analysts said in a new note to clients. “Longer term, we are enthusiastic about the company’s ability to expand software and services.”

Honeywell fell more than 6% on Monday after completing the spin-out of its aerospace business, now called Honeywell Aerospace. It was down more than 1% on Tuesday.

Daiwa is one of several shops on the Street to make a bullish call on Honeywell. Of the 28 analysts covering the stock, 16 have a buy or strong buy rating on it.

— Liz Napolitano

Semiconductor stocks are tracking for a record-setting quarter amid the memory crunch.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) have soared around 70% and 94%, respectively, in the second quarter. That would mark the biggest quarterly gain on record for each fund.

Micron has been one of the best-performing stocks in the sector, suring about 240% so far in the three-month period. On the other hand, artificial intelligence darling Nvidia has restricted gains for the group, rising less than 14% in the quarter.

— Alex Harring

European markets finished Tuesday in positive territory, with most regional sectors and major bourses in the green.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the final trading day of June up 1%. In London, the FTSE 100 was 0.1% higher, while in Paris, the CAC 40 finished 0.5% higher. In Frankfurt, the DAX rose 1.5%, and the FTSE MIB ended 1% up in Milan.

Technology names led the continent’s sectors, rising 2.5%, with industrial goods up 2.01% and basic resources advancing 1.7%.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said the U.K.’s inflation rate could rise to 3.2% before heading lower.

Speaking to CNBC’s Sara Eisen at the European Central Bank forum in Sintra, Portugal, Bailey said it is “hugely frustrating” that the Bank of England has not met its 2.0% target yet, with the latest annual inflation print remaining at 2.8% in May.

The Bank of England earlier this month voted 7-2 to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.75%. The central bank is grappling with how best to combat rising inflation after the Middle East conflict drove energy costs higher, while also tackling the country’s sluggish economic growth.

Bailey said markets had expected the central bank to cut rates this year, but added that the “highly uncertain” situation in the Middle East, and the lasting damage to energy infrastructure there, has clouded the Bank of England’s rates trajectory.

— Hugh Leask

The Nasdaq Composite is upmore than 20% quarter to date, putting it on pace for its best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2020, when it gained30.63%.

The tech-heavy index is also set for itsfourth positive quarter in the past five, highlighting the continued growth and interest in technology shares.

The Nasdaq rally has been fueled by renewed investor appetite for mega-cap tech such as Nvidia, Apple and Amazon and AI-linked names, even asvaluation concerns remain.

— Deena Zaidi

Consumer confidence nudged higher in June as decreasing gas prices boosted spirits even as worries about the labor market intensified, according to a Conference Board report Tuesday.

The group’s Consumer Confidence Index rose to 91.2, up just 0.6 points and below the Dow Jones consensus for 94.2. The Present Situation Index dropped 3 points to 116.4, while the Expectations Index increased 3 points to 74.4.

Notably, the jobs “hard to get” part of the report showed a rate of 22.5%, which was the highest since January 2021. The gap between “hard to get” and plentiful” was just 2.4 percentage points, an indication of labor market weakness.

At the same time, inflation indicators eased a bit, with 61.5% expecting higher interest rates in a year from now, down from 62.4% in May.

— Jeff Cox

Employment opportunities held steady in May, boosted by a jump in trade-related fields but held back by sharp declines in health care, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey put vacancies at 7.59 million for the month, up just 9,000 from April but higher than the Wall Street forecast for 7.3 million. Health care and social assistance saw a decline of 115,000 while wholesale trade increased 71,000.

Hirings, layoffs and quits rates all saw little change on the month as well.

— Jeff Cox

The S&P is up more than 14%, on pace for its best quarterly performance since second quarter of 2020, when it gained 19.95%. This is the 4th positive quarter in 5 for the index, which includes leading industries in the U.S. economy.

The gain comes at a time when there are concerns around a potential interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve and valuations around major tech firms.

The S&P gains comes at a time when Nasdaq has risen about 20%, for the second quarter and is on pace for its biggest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2020.

— Deena Zaidi

The three major averages were little changed on Tuesday morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded around the flatline just after the opening bell. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were also flat.

— Sean Conlon

Investors should sell Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to shore up the funds to add alternative asset management stocks to their portfolios, according to Oppenheimer.

The investment firm downgraded Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to underperform from perform.

“While we readily admit that there is nothing on the fundamentals that strikes us as particularly worrying at present, we continue to believe that both commercial banking and investment banking are pretty mature and cyclical businesses,” analyst Chris Kotowski said Tuesday in a note to clients. “While the cycle may well go on for another 12-18 months or more, we’d rather not wait around for the warning signs to appear, and thus particularly in the case of the investment banks we are more inclined to take the money and run.”

Oppenheimer analysts recommend that investors buy alternative asset manager stocks, including Ares Management, Blackstone and KKR & Co., according to their new note.

“Fear clearly rules the day and the managers’ balance sheets are not levered as the traditional intermediaries are,” Kotowski wrote.

— Liz Napolitano

Spot gold has fallen more than 13% quarter to date, on pace for its worst quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2013, when it fell by 23.31%.

Weighing on the precious metal is the stronger dollar, which rose this quarter as the market priced in higher odds of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. While investors tend to turn to gold as an inflation hedge, higher interest rates typically put downward pressure on gold prices.

Gold has dropped around 7% year to date.

— Michelle Fox

U.S West Texas Intermediate futures are down more than 30% quarter to date, heading for its worst quarterly performance since the first quarter of 2020. It marks the 5th negative quarter out of the last six.

WTI futures are also down byaround 19% this month. It’s the second consecutive month WTI futures have dropped.

This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said talks will take place in Qatar on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry has denied this.

— Ananya Chetia

Small-cap U.S. stocks are on pace for their best first half since 1991, as improving fundamentals and the artificial intelligence spending boom broaden the market rally beyond the biggest technology companies.

The Russell 2000 Index has surged more than 21% this year, marking a sharp turnaround after years of lagging large-cap stocks.

Semiconductor and semiconductor-equipment companies have been the biggest winners, underscoring how the AI investment boom is rippling through the broader market. Chip-related companies account for 16 of the Russell 2000′s 50 best-performing stocks this year, includingAehr Test Systems,Ichor HoldingsandMaxLinear, which have all rallied more than 400%.

Check out the companies making the biggest moves in the premarket:

• AeroVironment — The drone maker rallied 30% after reporting an earnings and revenue beat. AeroVironment earned $1.84 per share on revenue of $642 million. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of $1.46 per share on revenue of $559 million.
• Digital Realty Trust — The real estate investment trust sank 4.5% after agreeing to purchase a stake in three fully leased data centers from Blackstonefor $7.8 billion.
• Merck, AbbVie — Merck shares lost 0.6%, while AbbVie slid 0.5%, after Reuters reported that a U.S. House committee began a probe into whether the drugmakers were involved in trials that took place in China that aided the country’s military capabilities.

Read more here.

— Fred Imbert

Shares of Gucci-owner Kering fell 5% after the luxury group hosted a call with analysts ahead of its next quarterly results on July 28, reaffirming a gradual path to recovery and its full-year guidance.

Analysts, however, highlighted a challenging macro backdrop and currency headwinds, as the Middle East conflict disrupted sales in the region and tourist flows. Persistent headwinds in China also continue to drag on its top line, according to Jefferies.

Meanwhile, HSBC raised its price target to 290 euros from 280 euros, on sequential improvement in organic sales growth, expected at 2% in the second quarter.

It comes as CEO Luca de Meo, who took the reins last year to turn the company’s struggling brands around, outlined an ambitious strategy for growth in April.

Luxury peers LVMH, Richemont, Hermes, and Burberry also traded in the red, down between 1% and 2%, each, while the wider Stoxx 600 rose 0.6% in mid-morning trading.

— Elsa Ohlen

The European Commission said on Tuesday that it will reduce its duty-free steel import quota into the EU by an average of 47% from July 1. Under the new quotas, a total of 18.3 million tons of steel will be permitted to enter the bloc duty-free each year.

Out-of-quota imports will be subject to a tariff of 50%. Half of the annual import quota has been reserved exclusively for trading partners from the European Free Trade Association — Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The other half of the quota can be accessed by all trading partners, including EFTA countries.

— Chloe Taylor

Digital Realty fell in premarket trading after it announced it’s buying a $3.5 billion stake in three data centers from asset manager Blackstone on Tuesday.

The Austin-based global data center firm will pay $1.2 billion in cash and $2.3 billion in shares for data centers in Northern Virginia, valued at $7.8 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed on Tuesday.

Digital Realty will purchase Blackstone’s 80% interest in two 96-megawatt data centers in Manassas, Virginia, and a 50% interest in one 96-megawatt data center in Sterling, Virginia.

It was last trading down 3.7% before the market opened.

Digital Realty shares over the past year.

Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed, with Japan’sNikkei 225adding 0.86% to end at 70,062.32, while South Korea’sKospigained 0.97% to 8,476.48.

Australia’s benchmarkS&P/ASX 200was 0.51% lower, closing at 8,778.7.

Hong Kong’sHang Seng Indexedged down 0.63% to settle at 22,881.02, while the mainland’s CSI 300 advanced 1.07% to 4,979.43.

— Justina Lee

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.59% shortly after Tuesday’s market open, as most regional sectors and major bourses advanced into the green.

Mining stocks led the way in early dealmaking, rising around 2%, as industrial goods companies added 1.4% shortly after 8:20 a.m. in London (3:20 a.m. E.T.).

Investors piled into the continent’s chipmakers — ASML was up 3.2%, BE Semiconductors added 2%, and ASMI gained 1.4%.

Major bourses were also higher. Germany’s DAX was up 0.8% in Frankfurt, while in Milan the Italian FTSE MIB added 0.1%. In Paris, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.35%, and in London, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.17%.

— Hugh Leask

Abivaxreleased fresh data on its lead drug for bowel disease late on Monday. The late-stage clinical trial data showed that malignancies were in line with expected background rates.

The stock clawed back some of its heavy losses from earlier in the month when the same trial had investors questioning the future of the drug. It crashed around 44%on June 2, when a data set showed there were cancer cases among patients taking the highest dose of its experimental medicine obefazimod.

Abivax was last trading over 25% higher and the stock is down around 14% in the year-to-date.

Read the full story here.

— Elsa Ohlen

European Central BankPresident Christine Lagarde has used her curtain-raiser speech in Sintra, Portugal to say it’stime for the ECB to go back to basics. “We no longer need to reach for unconventional instruments… we no longer need to act with the same force… and we no longer need complex forms of forward guidance,” she said.

The ECB president also touted the central bank’s recent decision to raise rates, saying it was “justified under every scenario. It was, by design, a robust decision.”

This morning,”Squawk Box Europe”will speak to ECB Board Member and Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel. You can watch that First On CNBChere.

— Leonie Kidd

Yields on Japanese government bonds surged on Tuesday, as Japan’s currency fell to a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar.

At 1:55 a.m. ET, the yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year bond was 5 basis points higher, while yields on longer-term 20- and 30-year bonds jumped 10 basis points. The 30-year government bond yield was trading at 3.939%, putting it close to the 4% mark, which it broke above for the first time ever in May.

Japan 30-year government bond

Oil prices slipped in Asian trade Tuesday as tensions between Iran and the U.S. appear to ease, after both countries agreed to haltrecent hostilitiesin the Middle East.

International benchmarkBrentcrudefutures fell 0.81% to $72.56 a barrel. U.S.West Texas Intermediatefuturesdeclined 0.45% to $70.43 per barrel.

“With markets already pricing in a ‘return to normal,’ any snag in negotiations could cause prices to shoot back up, and there is little room for a positive surprise if negotiations do go well, ” according to a note by BMO Global Asset Management.

PresidentDonald Trumpsaid Monday on Truth Social that Iran and the U.S. will hold fresh talks on Tuesday in Qatar’s capital, following a weekend of clashes in the Middle East.

Trumpalso said that Iran requested the meeting and it will take place in Doha.

A White House official told CNBC that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff are set to brief Congress on an initial peace deal,

The White House did not provide any details on apotential peace deal. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.

— Justina Lee

Shares of Rakuten rose more than 5% amid reports that it is set to receive 150 billion Japanese yen in government subsidies.

The subsidies will help a consortium led by the Japanese e-commerce giant develop a local low-Earth-orbit satellite communications network, Nikkeireported. The funding would also help to support ground facilities, systems and equipment needed to launch and control such satellites, the report added.

A formal decision by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is expected soon, according to Nikkei.

The news comes as the Japanese government seeks to boost its satellite capabilities and strengthen economic security ties with other regions. Nikkei reported that Japan is set to also launch eight projects under a “digital corridor” initiative in the Indo-Pacific.

— Justina Lee

Shares of Samsung Electro-Mechanics rose more than 9% after announcing a 450 billion Korean won ($290.67 million) supply contract with an undisclosed global big tech firm.

The contractwill involve multilayer ceramic capacitors for artificial intelligence and will run for one year, from January to December 2027.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics is also in discussions with its clients to expand supply after 2027, the electronic components company said in a blog post.

Multilayer ceramic capacitors, also known as MLCCs, are essential components used in devices to provide stability and energy efficiency. The globalMLCC marketisprojected to grow to $4.87 billion in 2028 from an expected $4.27 billion this year, according to Business Research Insights.

— Justina Lee

Australia’s competition regulator is taking Amazon‘sAustralian unit to court, alleging that unfair terms in its Prime subscription contracts allowed the company ​to introduce advertising to its video streaming platform.

The Australian Competition ​and Consumer Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that Amazon Australia allegedly used unfair terms between November 2023 and August ⁠2025 to make changes to Prime Video contracts.

“We allege that ​Amazon AU included multiple unfair terms in its contracts with Australian annual Prime subscribers, and it then relied on some of these terms to bring ads onto Amazon ​Prime Video,” said the regulator’s chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

The ACCC is seeking consumer redress, penalties, costs, declarations and other orders.

“We are reviewing the case filed by the ACCC in detail. We have cooperated with the ACCC throughout its investigation and remain focused on providing the best experience for our Australian customers,” an Amazon Australia spokesperson told CNBC in an email when asked for comment.

— Justina Lee

China’s manufacturing activity picked up faster than expected in June, buoyed by strong demand for high-tech exports amid a global artificial intelligence boom.

The official purchasing managers’ index edged up to 50.3 in June, beating economists’ forecast of 50.1 and returning to expansionary territory above the 50-point threshold. The index stood at 50 in May.

The nonmanufacturing gauge, which tracks construction and services activity, rose to 50.2 from 50.1 in May, according todata released Tuesdayby the National Bureau of Statistics.

The world’s second-largest economy showed signs of recovery in June after two months of sluggish growth, with manufacturing activity and retail sales rebounding,according to China Beige Book, a private research firm that surveys 1,321 Chinese businesses.

Exports remained a bright spot with U.S. importers rushing to bring forward shipments after President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May set relations on a steady footing. The frontloading also came ahead of the expiry of a 10% levy under Section 122 in July.

The U.S. has yet to impose additional duties that could emerge fromWashington’s Section 301 probestargeting countries identified for overcapacity and forced labor practices.

— Anniek Bao

Spot gold prices fell more than 1% on Tuesday amid signs of easing tensions between Iran and the U.S., while investors assessed a more hawkish outlook from the Federal Reserve following last week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The precious metal was also pressured by higher Treasury yields, with the 2-year Treasury yield jumping by 20 basis points after the Fed meeting to 4.2% from 4.0%.

“Given that gold does not generate any yield, the yellow metal is particularly allergic to rising Treasuries yield,” according to a note by Singapore’s United Overseas Bank.

“As such, this rise in short term Treasuries yield coupled with increasing fears of Fed rate hike in 2H26 is negative for gold over the near term,” it added.

Spot gold last traded 1.07% lower at $3,972.99.

TheJapanese yenweakened to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1986 on Tuesday, keeping investors on alert for possible intervention from Japanese authorities.

The yen weakened to 162.27 per dollar in early Asian trading, marking its lowest level in four decades.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a regular press conference on Tuesday that the Japanese government will work to build an economy less vulnerable to foreign-exchange volatility while remaining prepared to intervene in currency markets if necessary. Kihara also declined to comment on the yen’s current level.

Read the full story here.

— Lee Ying Shan

Asia-Pacific markets opened broadly higher Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight.

Japan’s Nikkei 225added over 1.41% while the Topix rose 0.88%.

South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.17% at the open, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.88%.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was flat.

Hong KongHang Seng indexfutures were at 22,976, lower than the index’s last close of 23,026.68.

— Justina Lee

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed on Tuesday amid higher oil prices after Iran and the U.S. made an agreement to haltrecent hostilitiesin the Middle East.

Japan’sNikkei 225was poised to gain, with the Chicago futures contract at 70,640 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 70,650, compared with the index’s previous close of 69,468.11.

Hong KongHang Seng indexfutures were at 22,976, lower than the index’s last close of 23,026.68.

In Australia, futures last traded at 8,825, while theS&P/ASX 200′s closed at 8,823.40.

PresidentDonald Trump said via social media on Monday that Iran and the U.S. will hold fresh talks on Tuesday in Qatar’s capital, following weekend of clashes in the Middle East.

Iran requested the meeting and it will take place in Doha, Trumpsaidin a post on Truth Social.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff are set to brief Congress on an initial peace deal, a White House official told CNBC.

The White House did not provide any details on apotential peace deal.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately comment to CNBC.

— Justina Lee

CNXC 5D chart

In its last quarter, Concentrix reported adjusted earnings of $2.63 per share, missing the $2.64 per share analysts polled by FactSet had expected. The company’s $2.46 million revenue also missed the Street’s call for $2.47 million.

Concentrix also guided for earnings and revenue in its current quarter below what analysts were projecting. The company also lowered its full-year earnings, revenue and operating income forecasts.

— Lisa Kailai Han

AVAV 5D chart

In its last quarter, AeroVironment reported adjusted earnings of $1.84 per share, while analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated earnings of $1.46 per share. The company’s revenue of $642 million also exceeded the forecast $559 million.

— Lisa Kailai Han

S&P 500 and Dow futures traded near flat on Monday night.

Shortly after 6 p.m. ET, futures tied to the two major averages were little changed. On the other hand, Nasdaq futures shed around 0.2%.

— Lisa Kailai Han