Stock market today: Dow snaps 6-day losing streak, Powell warns on inflation

The Dow snapped a six-day losing streak on Tuesday as investors digested a “higher-for-longer” interest rate mantra from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) finished the day up 0.2%, or more than 50 points, following comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who said it will likely take “longer than expected” for the central bank to be confident in its inflation fight.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) closed down 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, after seesawing throughout the trading day.

The moves come as bond yields remain at multi-month highs, coupled with rising tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s weekend attacks on Israel.

Yields jumped on the heels of Powell’s comments with the 2-year note briefly touching above 5% — its highest level since November. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX), which touched 2024 highs on Monday, climbed about 3 basis points to trade around 4.66% on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, earnings reports flooded in before the bell. UnitedHealth (UNH) shares added about 5% after the healthcare group beat quarterly profit estimates, even as it said it expects to take a $1.6 billion hit from a February cyberattack.

Investors were also digesting more big bank results: Bank of America (BAC) reported that first quarter profit dropped 18% year over year as a key revenue source weakened, while Morgan Stanley (MS) stock rose as it topped expectations. Elsewhere, BNY Mellon (BK) posted a profit beatwhile Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported a revenue miss.

Source from yahoo!finance: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-today-dow-snaps-6-day-losing-streak-powell-warns-on-inflation-181845026.html