The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both closed higher on Tuesday, after a topsy-turvy day on Wall Street dominated by investor angst ahead of the impending tariff announcements from the Trump administration.

Financial markets have been volatile in recent weeks as investors assessed the economic fallout of U.S. President Donald Trump's extensive tariff plans, which have sparked worries about a U.S. economic slowdown and higher inflation.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.8 points, or 0.03%, to 41,989.96, the S&P 500 rose 21.22 points, or 0.38%, to 5,633.07 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 150.6 points, or 0.87%, to 17,449.89.

Market Movers

Shares of electric-vehicle company Tesla rose 3.6%. The stock closed with a loss of 1.7% on Monday and ended the first quarter down 36%, its worst first quarter on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Tesla is expected to release first-quarter delivery figures on Wednesday with Wall Street estimating about 380,000 vehicles. Analysts have been reducing their estimates, in part because CEO Elon Musk has received backlash from his close alignment with Trump and his position in the administration's Department of Government Efficiency.

U.S.-listed shares of XPeng rose 1.2% after the Chinese EV maker delivered 33,205 vehicles in March, up from 9,026 delivered in the same month a year earlier. It was XPeng's fifth consecutive month in which deliveries topped 30,000 vehicles. The company had never delivered 30,000 cars in a month before the streak started. American depositary receipts of fellow Chinese EV makers NIO and Li Auto rose 1.4% and 1.7%, respectively, after deliveries at both companies in March rose from a year earlier.

Ford Motor declined 1.1% after the auto maker reported U.S. sales of 501,291 vehicles in the first quarter, down 1.3% from a year earlier. The decline wasn't a surprise since inventories at Ford dealers were high as the year began, leaving relatively little scope for sales. General Motors, meanwhile, was up 0.5% after U.S. sales in the first quarter rose 17%.

Nvidia, the leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips, was up 1.6%. Nvidia shares fell 19.3% in the first quarter, the stock's worst quarter since September 2022, when it tumbled nearly 20%. The stock has been hit from investors' souring sentiment over big U.S. technology stocks and on macro concerns that Trump's tariffs will hurt growth and fan inflation.

Johnson & Johnson fell 7.6% after a bankruptcy judge in Texas dismissed the healthcare company's third attempt to resolve its mass talc liabilities through Chapter 11. The company faces sweeping litigation from accusations that its baby powder and other talc-based items harmed consumers.

MicroStrategy rose 6.2% to $306.02 even as analysts at Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. downgraded the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin to Sell from Neutral and established a $220 price target on the stock. Analyst Gus Gala said the company, now doing business as Strategy, could find it increasingly difficult to snap up more of the cryptocurrency.

PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, reported better than expected fourth-quarter earnings and said it anticipates flat to higher revenue in the current fiscal year after revenue fell 6% last year to $8.65 billion. The stock jumped 18%.

Progress Software surged 12% after raising its earnings outlook for the fiscal year. The company said it expects fiscal-year adjusted earnings of $5.25 to $5.37 a share, up from a prior projection of $5 to $5.12. Progress Software said first-quarter revenue jumped 29%, driven by its "product portfolio across the board, with our data platform and infrastructure management products having a particularly solid quarter."

Newsmax, the conservative-leaning media company, rose 179% to $233 after making its debut Monday on Wall Street. Newsmax sold 7.5 million shares at an initial public offering price of $10 and shares surged 735% on Monday to close at $83.51.

Southwest Airlines declined 5.9% to $31.59. Analysts at Jefferies downgraded shares of the carrier to Underperform from Hold and cut their price target to $28 from $30. Summer demand is under pressure as "corporate and consumer sentiment to remain soft on swelling macro uncertainty," said Jefferies in a research note. The analysts also downgraded American Airlines and Delta Air Lines to Hold from Buy. American fell 2.4% and Delta declined 2.7%.

Market News

Trump’s Tariffs to Take Immediate Effect, White House Says

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will take immediate effect after they are announced Wednesday, his top spokeswoman said.

“My understanding is that the tariff announcement will come tomorrow. They will be effective immediately, and the president has been teasing this for quite some time,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.

Alibaba Preparing for Flagship AI Model Release as Soon as April

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is planning to release Qwen 3, an upgraded version of its flagship AI model, as soon as this month with competition from rivals including OpenAI and DeepSeek heating up.

The Hangzhou-based company’s new offering may arrive later in April, though the exact timing could still slip, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The Chinese media outlet Huxiu earlier reported about Alibaba’s plans.

Hong Kong Considers New OTC Stock Market for Delisted Companies

Hong Kong is drafting rules for an over-the-counter market for delisted shares to give investors at risk of owning a growing pile of nearly worthless securities a chance of recouping some losses.

The city’s stock exchange and regulator are working on a blueprint for what is commonly referred to as a pink sheet market after an initial consultation with market participants, according to people familiar of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter.

While still at an early stage, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. and the Securities and Futures Commission are looking at designing the OTC market as an “end-of-life care” platform that would provide an exit for investors looking to sell and not allow any new funds to be raised - unlike a model in the US, the people said.