S&P 500 hits record as Powell highlights risk of leaving rates high too long: Live updates

Here are the stocks moving at midday:

• Nvidia — Shares of the artificial intelligence darling jumped 1.8% after KeyBanc raised its price target to $180, implying a roughly 40% upside from Monday’s close. The company said demand for Nvidia’s H100 chip “remains robust” even with Blackwell’s looming launch in the second half of the year.
• Helen of Troy — Shares of the housewares company fell nearly 28%, hitting a new 52-week low in the session. The company reported first-quarter earnings of 2025 that missed expectations before the close, earning 99 cents per share, excluding one-time items. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $1.59 per share. The company also cut its full-year forecast.
• UiPath — The software company’s stock fell 7% after the company said it plans to cut about 10% of its global workforce, with most of the reductions expected by the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2026. The company said it was part of a restructuring plan to manage operating expenses.

Read the full list here.

— Sean Conlon

Stocks tied to the artificial intelligence theme outperformed Tuesday. Market darling Nvidia was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, jumping 3% in midday trading, while the broader index gained 0.1%.

Corning was the second-best performing stock in the S&P 500. Shares jumped 3% in midday trading, extending gains from the previous session, when Corning rose 12% after raising its second-quarter forecast. The company known for developing the Gorilla Glass used in iPhones said the artificial intelligence boom has boosted demand for its optical connectivity products.

Chip stocks broadly outperformed. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF gained 0.4%, led by stocks such as Micron Technology, up 2.5%.

Shares of Super Micro Computer rose nearly 2%.

-Sarah Min

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. economy was not overheated, but was still growing the fastest of any developed nation.

“We are no longer in an overheated economy,” the central bank chairman said in his first policy speech this week. “We are in an economy that by most measures is more or less back to where it was before the pandemic. And the labor market was strong, but it was not an overheated labor market.”

Later in the hearing, he was asked if any economy in the world is doing better than the United States.

“None come to mind in the major leagues. The answer would be no,” he said.

— Jeff Cox

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit new record highs at the open on Tuesday, marking the second straight session of highs for both indices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 gained 0.1% while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.

—Brian Evans

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Chemists — The chemicals company added about 3% after UBS upgraded the company from buy to neutral, saying the stock could outperform as refrigerants see favorable demand and pricing drivers heading into next year.
• BP — Shares of the U.S.-listed oil and gas giant fell more than 4 percent after the company warned it expected a writedown of up to $2 billion. BP is also seeing weak margins in its refining business.
• Tempus AI — Shares jumped nearly 4% after several Wall Street banks began covering the medical diagnostics company with buy or overweight ratings. Tempus AI, which uses artificial intelligence to interpret medical tests, debuted on the Nasdaq in June.

To learn more, read here.

— Pia Singh

Pershing Square has launched a roadshow for the IPO of a closed-end investment vehicle, Bill Ackman’s company announced Tuesday.

Pershing Square USA Ltd. is priced at $50 per share for the initial public offering and is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PSUS. Citigroup, UBS Investment Bank, BofA Securities and Jefferies are acting as global coordinators and bookrunners for the deal, Pershing Square said.

The firm previously said the closed-end fund would invest in 12 to 24 large-cap, investment-grade, “sustainable growth” companies in North America. It has no performance fees, and Ackman is waiving management fees for the first 12 months and will charge a flat 2% fee after the first year.

The decision to take the vehicle public is widely seen as a way to leverage Ackman’s popularity with Main Street investors. The billionaire investor has gained a large following on the social media platform X with 1.3 million followers, commenting on topics ranging from anti-Semitism to the presidential election.

-Yun Li

BP shares fell more than 4% on Tuesday after the European oil giant warned investors of an impairment charge of up to $2 billion and weaker refining margins in the second quarter.

The after-tax impairment charge, in the range of $1 billion to $2 billion, includes costs related to BP’s ongoing review of a refinery in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, as well as other asset costs and contractual arrangements.

BP also expects its refining margins to decline in the second quarter, which will have a negative impact of $500 million to $700 million. The oil group will publish its quarterly results on July 30.

— Spencer Kimball

According to Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge, the impact of the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts on the stock market may be overestimated by investors.

“We remain cautious on the SPX as investors are overly optimistic about the power of the Fed’s rate cuts and under-focused on the economic slowdown,” he wrote. “The case for a September rate cut is strong, but a modest easing cycle, such as the one likely to come, will not be enough to immediately halt the slowdown in growth that is currently underway.”

—Fred Imbert

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite continued their gains Monday. By the close of regular trading, the broad stock index had hit 35 record closing highs in 2024, while the Nasdaq Composite had 25.

But many investors are anticipating a summer correction and believe they should expand their exposure before stocks peak.

“You really need to stay broadly diversified,” Courtney Garcia, senior wealth advisor at Payne Capital Management, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Monday. “I don’t think the business momentum is going to stop, especially in the short term, but when it does change, it’s going to change quickly. And when you look at valuations, there’s a lot of opportunity here.”

-Sarah Min

U.S. stock futures opened little changed Monday evening.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 13 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.03% and 0.07%, respectively.

-Sarah Min