U.S. stock indices reversed early losses to close higher on Tuesday. Shares of Amazon.com (AMZN.US) rose over 1% at the close, ending a nine-session decline that had erased hundreds of billions in market value.

At market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 32.26 points, or 0.07%, to finish at 49,533.19. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 31.71 points, or 0.14%, to 22,578.38. The S&P 500 added 7.05 points, or 0.1%, closing at 6,843.22. Technology stocks declined, with Tesla (TSLA.US) falling over 1.6%, Google (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) down more than 1%, AMD (AMD.US) dropping over 2%, and Meta Platforms (META.US) edging slightly lower.

In European markets, Germany's DAX 30 index increased by 201.49 points, or 0.81%, to 25,013.99. The UK's FTSE 100 rose 81.98 points, or 0.78%, to 10,555.67. France's CAC 40 climbed 44.96 points, or 0.54%, to 8,361.46. The Euro Stoxx 50 was up 47.57 points, or 0.80%, at 6,026.45. Spain's IBEX 35 advanced 106.31 points, or 0.60%, to 17,954.31. Italy's FTSE MIB gained 336.30 points, or 0.74%, to 45,755.50.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin fell over 1.8% to $67,626, while Ethereum rose more than 5.4% to $2,053.51.

Spot gold declined 2.27% to $4,878.09 per ounce. Spot silver was at $73.541.

WTI crude oil settled at $62.33 per barrel in New York. The April Brent crude contract fell 1.8%, settling at $67.42 per barrel.

U.S. homebuilder confidence dropped to a five-month low this month, as persistent affordability concerns and high construction costs continued to pressure the sector. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell to 36 in February, its lowest level since last September. The reading was below all but one forecast in a survey of economists. A figure below 50 indicates that more builders view market conditions as poor than good. "Although most builders are still offering sales incentives including price reductions, many potential buyers remain on the sidelines," said NAHB Chairman Hughes in a statement. "While demand for new homes has softened, remodeling demand remains strong due to limited household mobility."

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly stated that the Federal Reserve must conduct a deep analysis of data to determine if artificial intelligence is boosting productivity growth, potentially allowing the economy to grow faster without triggering inflation or requiring tighter monetary policy. The Trump administration has suggested this dynamic is already occurring, with some economists noting that increased AI investment could further enhance productivity, creating an economic landscape similar to the 1990s when computer and software proliferation allowed strong growth with subdued inflation. Daly noted, "Most macro productivity research to date has found limited evidence of a significant AI impact." She suggested this might be because improvements from corporate investments take time to materialize, adding, "It's also possible we haven't reached a tipping point," as economy-wide transformations can take longer to become evident.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee indicated that if inflation continues to moderate towards the 2% target, there could be multiple interest rate cuts this year. Goolsbee warned that services inflation remains elevated but noted that if tariff-related price increases are one-off events, policymakers would have some flexibility. "I believe if this proves temporary and we can demonstrate we are on a path back to 2% inflation, I still think there could be several rate cuts in 2026, but we will have to wait and see," Goolsbee said. He added, "I would like to see some evidence that inflation is moving back to 2%, and then rates can continue to come down."

A survey by MillTech revealed that tariffs and dollar volatility are prompting companies to increase their currency hedging efforts after suffering multimillion-dollar losses in the fourth quarter, indicating that trade tensions are squeezing profits and reshaping corporate risk strategies. The survey found that four out of five companies suffered losses from unhedged currency positions last quarter. U.S. companies lost an average of $9.9 million, while UK companies lost approximately £6.7 million ($9.1 million). Some firms reported losses exceeding $25 million. Sharp currency fluctuations led treasurers to seek more protection in Q4. According to MillTech, treasurers hedged an average of 49% of their foreign exchange exposure using financial instruments, up about 3 percentage points from the third quarter. Nearly two-thirds of companies stated they plan to increase their hedging ratios this year given market volatility spurred by tariffs.

A 13F filing showed that Berkshire Hathaway reduced its holdings in Bank of America (BAC.US) and Apple (AAPL.US) while increasing its stake in The New York Times (NYT.US) during the last quarter under CEO Warren Buffett. In Q4, the company sold approximately 50.8 million shares of Bank of America and 10.3 million shares of Apple, marking the third consecutive quarter of reducing its Apple position. Concurrently, it purchased 5.1 million shares of The New York Times, whose stock rose over 3% in after-hours trading. As of last September, American Express (AXP.US), Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola (KO.US), and Chevron (CVX.US) were Berkshire's largest holdings.

Nvidia (NVDA.US) and Meta Platforms (META.US) announced a multi-year strategic partnership. Meta is already the second-largest buyer of Nvidia's chips. Under the agreement, Meta will deploy millions of Nvidia chips. The collaboration covers on-premises, cloud, and AI infrastructure. Meta also plans, for the first time, to adopt Nvidia's Grace central processing units in the core of standalone computers. The deployment will include products based on Nvidia's current Blackwell architecture and future products from the upcoming Vera Rubin AI accelerator platform.

Regulatory filings revealed that Tiger Global Management reduced its holdings in several major tech firms during the fourth quarter of 2025. The firm cut its stake in Amazon.com (AMZN.US) by 9.3% to 10 million shares, reduced its Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM.US) holding by 18.6% to 3.7 million shares, decreased its Microsoft (MSFT.US) position by 16.4% to 5.5 million shares, lowered its Nvidia (NVDA.US) stake by 6% to 11 million shares, and trimmed its Meta Platforms (META.US) holding by 2.4% to 2.8 million Class A shares.

Apple (AAPL.US) is accelerating the development of three new wearable devices targeting the AI hardware sector, a field attracting competition from giants like OpenAI and Meta. Sources familiar with the matter revealed the new products include smart glasses, an AI pendant that can be clipped to a shirt or worn as a necklace, and AirPods with enhanced AI capabilities. All three devices are built around the Siri digital assistant and will execute commands using visual perception. These unannounced devices require connection to an iPhone and rely on camera systems of varying specifications. The AirPods and pendant are positioned as entry-level, equipped with low-resolution cameras to assist AI functions rather than for photography, while the smart glasses are aimed at the high-end market with more comprehensive features. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated at an internal meeting this month that the company is fully committed to AI devices, developing "entirely new product categories" powered by artificial intelligence, noting that "the world is changing rapidly."

Bank of America upgraded Albemarle (ALB.US) from Neutral to Buy and raised its price target from $167.00 to $190.00.