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The S&P 500 went down a little on Tuesday after reaching a new all-time high earlier in the day. Investors are watching a lot of things right now, like company earnings, U.S. trade talks with other countries, and an important meeting by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
By the afternoon, the Dow Jones was down by 187 points, which is 0.4%. The S&P 500 dropped 0.2%, and the NASDAQ also fell 0.4%. This happened even though the S&P 500 hit a record high of 6,409.26 earlier in the day.
One reason the stock market has been doing well is because of a new trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. But now, investors are focused on whether the U.S. can also make deals with other countries like China, South Korea, India, and Taiwan. The U.S. and China are continuing their trade talks in Sweden, and China has until August 12 to reach a better deal with the U.S. on tariffs.
At the same time, the Federal Reserve has started a two-day meeting. Most people believe the Fed will not change interest rates right now. But they are waiting to hear if the Fed might lower rates later this year. Some Fed members want to cut rates, but others want to wait and see how the economy does. President Donald Trump is also asking the Fed to lower rates to help the economy grow faster.
More important economic news is coming this week. Reports about jobs and inflation will be released over the next few days. These include job openings, private payroll numbers, unemployment claims, and the July jobs report on Friday.
Many companies are also sharing their earnings this week. Over 150 big companies in the S&P 500 are reporting their results. This includes big names like Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.
Some companies are already showing weak results. Merck announced job cuts and weak vaccine sales. PayPal said profits will stay flat. UPS reported lower demand. Whirlpool gave a disappointing outlook. UnitedHealth gave a forecast that was lower than expected. Novo Nordisk, the maker of a popular weight-loss drug, also lowered its forecast for the year.
Later today, Visa will share its results after the market closes. Investors are watching all of these updates closely as they decide what to do next.