On Tuesday, the three major U.S. stock indices closed lower as traders digested earnings reports from several large banks and the pressure placed on memory chip stocks by a sharp overnight decline in the South Korean stock market.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 51,670.10, down 0.35%; the S&P 500 finished at 7,805.45, down 0.02%; and the Nasdaq Composite ended at 27,204.38, down 0.15%. The semiconductor index fell more than 2% at one point. Meta (META.US) rose 2.63%, and Nvidia (NVDA.US) gained 0.97%. Applied Materials (AMAT.US) closed down 6.69%. Micron Technology (MU.US) and SK Hynix ADRs each fell more than 3%, while Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) dropped 5.73% after its earnings, and Citigroup (C.US) slid 5.6%.
In Europe, Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.07%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.06%, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.07%, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.55%, Spain's IBEX 35 slipped 0.39%, and Italy's FTSE MIB gained 0.04%.
In currencies, the U.S. dollar index edged down about 0.2% on Tuesday but remained within the elevated range it has held since May 2025.
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin swung violently over the past 48 hours before closing up about 0.3% at $83,214. Ethereum rose 2.22% to $2,501.08.
In precious metals, spot gold fell 0.3% to $4,160.74 an ounce, while spot silver dropped 1.8% to $59.1546 an ounce as of press time.
In crude oil, WTI crude for November delivery rose 0.4% to $94.14 a barrel, while Brent crude for December delivery fell 0.9% to $105.69 a barrel.
Fed's Williams: No rate hikes may be needed in 2027, diverging from traders' views
New York Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday that after one more rate hike this year, he does not expect further increases in 2027. "I haven't changed my view that one more rate hike may be appropriate," he said. "I don't think I have any reason right now to believe we need to do more." Williams' remarks put him at odds with the market and some other central bank members. Williams said the Fed should focus on the "underlying trend" of inflation amid energy- and AI-related price shocks. The Fed official warned that energy prices continue to put upward pressure on headline inflation, but said they could bring relief on a year-over-year basis in the future. Williams also said the impact of tariffs on price growth has largely already shown up.
Fed's Barkin: Acting against persistent inflation is reasonable
Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said the shocks putting pressure on U.S. prices are clearly persisting and that acting against that dynamic is appropriate. "I'm very supportive of what we're doing," Barkin said Tuesday at Howard University when asked how he viewed the approach of fighting inflation through rate hikes. "If you go back four months, there were a lot of shocks that looked one-off, possibly temporary, and would eventually fade — inflation might have returned to its early-2025 path," he said. "In my view, these shocks are now clearly persisting, inflation is persisting, and it makes some sense to take some measures to address it," he said. Asked about the Fed's specific 2% inflation target, Barkin said: "This is not a figment of imagination, it is actually" within reach.
Fed's Goolsbee: A bubble burst 'may be ugly,' depending on leverage; AI demand is starting to overheat
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said the aftermath of a financial bubble bursting "may be ugly," depending on the level of leverage. He made the comment when asked what a potential unraveling of the artificial intelligence (AI) trade could look like. Goolsbee described a conditional scenario in which fundamentals do not support current valuations and the AI trade proves to be a bubble. He noted the U.S. has experienced bubbles before, including some recent ones, and that the bursting process "may be ugly," depending on the associated leverage. Goolsbee is not a voting FOMC member this year, but will gain a vote in 2027.
U.S. small-business optimism falls to a three-month low as business expectations and expansion willingness weaken
Data released Tuesday by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) showed the small-business optimism index fell 0.8 point to 97.9. Of the 10 components making up the index, six declined, three rose and one was unchanged. The uncertainty index also edged higher. The net share of owners expecting business conditions to improve fell 4 percentage points to 6%, a four-month low. Persistent price pressures continued to weigh on small businesses, with military conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war keeping energy costs high. NFIB data showed that last month 20% of businesses cited inflation as their top problem, nearly triple the historical average of about 7%.
Bridgewater founder: The U.S. Treasury bear market is far from over, with demand weakening among some traditional buyers
Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio warned that the selloff in U.S. Treasuries is far from over, with demand weakening among some of the world's largest traditional buyers as government and corporate debt issuance surges. Dalio said Tuesday that the U.S. is entering a phase in which expanding bond supply drives yields higher and debt levels rise further. He believes this cycle may continue until higher rates put enough pressure on the economy and financial markets and prompt supply and demand to rebalance. "The Treasury bear market path may be long," Dalio wrote. Dalio has long warned that a U.S. debt crisis is approaching and has urged investors to sell bonds and buy gold. His bearish stance contrasts with some investors and institutional strategists such as BlackRock, who have turned bullish after the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield this month surged to its highest level in nearly a quarter-century.
Bank of America fined $1.2 billion over alleged money-laundering violations
Bank of America (BAC.US) was fined more than $1.2 billion in federal penalties on Tuesday. Regulators said the second-largest U.S. bank failed for years to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions and failed to resolve long-standing anti-money-laundering issues. The Treasury Department said more than $1 billion of the unreported activity involved national security and other high-priority risks, including money-laundering networks and activity related to the southwest border. The action came less than a day before the bank was due to release quarterly earnings on Wednesday morning. The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which enforces anti-money-laundering rules, said the $1.2 billion fine was the third-largest in Treasury history. Treasury separately announced a $11.6 million settlement over sanctions violations. According to Treasury, as part of the settlement, Bank of America acknowledged willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act, failing to maintain a compliant anti-money-laundering program, conducting required due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts, and filing suspicious activity reports.
JPMorgan bars external AI agents such as Muse and Instinct from directly accessing accounts
JPMorgan (JPM.US) CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday that the bank will not allow external artificial intelligence agents to access customer accounts and act on customers' behalf, citing risks to the company and its clients as tech companies such as Meta release autonomous assistants. "We won't let any external agent into the company because it's too dangerous for customers and for JPMorgan," Dimon told analysts on the bank's third-quarter earnings call. "You don't want runaway agents, and there could be thousands of them," he added, describing the potential threat to customers. In July, an OpenAI model breached the servers of AI company HuggingFace. Dimon said JPMorgan is using AI agents internally and plans to deploy them in customer-facing applications. He said the bank's approach is not to be for or against the technology, but to ensure it safely serves customers.
Google's Gemini 4 Argon launches globally, with promotional pricing through the end of November
Google (GOOGL.US) is rolling out its flagship AI model, Gemini 4 Argon, to users worldwide. After being available for nearly three weeks only to cybersecurity defense partners, the model was officially broadened on Tuesday to serve ordinary users, developers and enterprises. Google hopes to further strengthen its position in the frontier AI race with capabilities in coding, complex reasoning and cybersecurity.
Apple's smart home lineup debuts, with core product HomeView taking on Amazon and Google
Apple (AAPL.US) unveiled a new device called HomeView, a $299 smart display that is the company's core product for challenging Amazon and Google in the smart home market. HomeView will go on sale on November 13, relying mainly on hands-free voice commands and using facial recognition to provide a personalized software experience for each family member. HomeView has no physical buttons but features a 7-inch touchscreen with apps arranged in a grid that will be very familiar to iPhone and iPad users. To rapidly expand its smart home business, Apple is partnering with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric to launch Apple Home Collection accessories, including indoor and outdoor cameras, video doorbells, thermostats and door locks. Apple participated in the co-development of this hardware, which will begin shipping in December at prices ranging from $199 to $399.
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