The Dow defies market sell-off as Nasdaq, S&P 500 plunge yet again

The losing streak for America's two major indexes reached four days when the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished 0.5% and 1.4% lower, respectively, on Tuesday.

In both cases, it marked the biggest four-day percentage drop in nearly six months. But the Dow Jones managed to buck the losing trend, adding nearly 160 points — about 0.4% — to finish at 43,621.16.

A number of economic factors contributed to Tuesday’s mixed results, and investors are keeping an eye on other upcoming indicators for hints about where the stock market is headed next.

A dip in confidence

Stocks weren’t the only asset that took a tumble in response to Tuesday’s disappointing economic news. The U.S. dollar index (DXY) shed more than a quarter of a percent in response to the latest consumer confidence rating.

Here are some takeaways from the report:

• The index fell to 98.3, or more than four points lower than expectations.

• Its seven-point drop was the third decline in a row and the largest in more than two years.

• Consumer confidence hasn’t been this low in eight months.

Concerns about rising costs and the labor market have contributed to the sagging index, but Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick looked at the larger trend to find a silver lining.

“The good news is, for what it’s worth, we’re coming off of a strong base,” he said. “The most recent reading for the nation’s unemployment rate at 4%, that’s regarded essentially close to full employment or as low as it can go.”

Tariffs and trade

President Donald Trump sowed fear in the markets with his recent declaration that 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will be implemented next month.

Even with many economic indicators remaining relatively strong, lingering uncertainty around trade has left investors wary. The Conference Board, which issues the consumer confidence index, acknowledged trade is a driving factor in its recent scoring.

“There was a sharp increase in the mentions of trade and tariffs, back to a level unseen since 2019. Most notably, comments on the current administration and its policies dominated the responses,” said Stephanie Guichard, the board’s senior economist for global indicators.

Tuesday’s market movers

U.S. home prices were up in December, according to S&P Corelogic Index results showing a 4.48% year-over-year increase. Precious metals were down in part due to concern about their demand for tech and other industrial uses.

Disappointing economic news was also a factor in driving the two- and 10-year Treasury yields down to their lowest point of the year. The short-term yield ended Tuesday at 4.097% and the longer rate was 0.2 percentage points higher.

The homebuilding sector benefited from speculation about lower mortgage rates, with Home Depot (HD) spiking by 2.8% on Tuesday following the release of its latest quarterly financials.

Zoom Communications (ZM), on the other hand, fell sharply along with the broader tech industry despite reporting higher-than-expected earnings.

Bitcoin joined in on Tuesday’s Big Tech slide, finishing the day lower at just north of $88,000 and putting a damper on the crypto market in general.

There’s plenty more on this week’s calendar for investors to consider, such as the release of chipmaker Nvidia’s first earnings report since the debut of Chinese AI competitor DeepSeek.

Those numbers are expected before the end of Wednesday.

Other updates to look for over the next few days include fourth-quarter GDP numbers on Thursday followed by January’s Personal Consumption Expenditures index the following day.