Today At A Glance:

Wall Street finished mixed: banks rallied on upbeat earnings while megacap tech sagged as U.S.–China tensions simmered. The Dow rose, the S&P 500 was roughly flat-to-slightly lower, and the Nasdaq slipped, with traders hedging as the VIX stayed elevated. Powell’s remarks about potentially ending balance-sheet runoff helped stabilize risk appetite, but tariff rhetoric and new port fees kept a lid on tech. Bank results (Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman) dominated the tape, with strength in investment banking offset by select drags. Net-net, breadth improved in cyclicals/financials while AI-heavy semiconductor names lost ground.

Today’s Index Performance:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average — The Dow opened today at 45,871.89 and closed today at 46,272.99, with the percentage change of +0.45%.
• S&P 500 — The S&P 500 opened today at 6,591.96 and closed today at 6,644.38, with the percentage change of −0.15%.
• Nasdaq Composite — The Nasdaq opened today at 22,388.04 and closed today at 22,518.84, with the percentage change of −0.77%.

Gainers Of Note:

• Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) – Money-center bank; jumped after a Q3 profit beat and upbeat commentary on investment-banking activity, leading the bank group higher.
• Walmart (NYSE: WMT) – Big-box retail; rose after unveiling a shopping partnership that integrates with ChatGPT, adding to defensive retail momentum.
• Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) – Heavy equipment; climbed on a price-target hike and rotation into industrials as investors leaned into cyclical winners.

Losers Of Note:

• Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) – AI semiconductors; fell as renewed U.S.–China trade friction and profit-taking pressured high-beta chip leaders.
• Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) – Chips & networking; slipped after Monday’s AI-deal pop, with traders trimming exposure amid headline risk.
• Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET) – Cloud networking; declined with other AI infrastructure names during tech-led afternoon weakness.

Active Traders Of Note:

• JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) – Diversified bank; heavy volume as it raised full-year NII guidance but shares eased on “sell-the-news” after a strong YTD run.
• BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) – Asset manager; active after AUM hit a record ~$13.5T, drawing flows into the name and the broader asset-manager cohort.
• Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) – China e-commerce ADR; brisk trading as tariff chatter and port-fee headlines kept China-sensitive shares in motion.

Looking Forward:

With banks off to a strong start, the tape may stay bifurcated—financials/industrials bid while long-duration tech remains headline-sensitive. Any cooling in U.S.–China rhetoric could quickly relieve pressure on chips and mega-cap growth; the opposite would reinforce today’s factor rotations. Watch guidance from the next wave of earnings for margin commentary, plus any fresh Fed hints on balance-sheet runoff and the rate path. Reuters+1

Note: The stock performance summaries are based on general trends observed over the past ten trading days and are not indicative of future results.

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