MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks ended mixed and treasury yields rose after a new report showed inflation picked up in June, a potential sign that companies are starting to pass tariff costs on to consumers. The U.S. dollar strengthened after the data. Oil and gold both settled lower.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

U.S. stocks ended mixed after a new report showed inflation picked up in June, a potential sign that companies are starting to pass tariff costs on to consumers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%, the S&P 500 lost 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%

Financial shares came under pressure as big banks reported quarterly results with soft forecasts for the rest of the year. A rally in chip stocks lifted the Nasdaq to a fresh high after semiconductor maker Nvidia said it received assurance from the White House it can sell H20 chips in China again.

Meanwhile, June's CPI rose in line with forecasts and is seen as unlikely to sway the Fed's course on rates.

Markets in Asia traded mixed on Tuesday.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4%. The Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.1%, and the ChiNext Price Index rose 1.7%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 1.6% higher.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.6%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%.

Stocks in New Zealand rose, as the S&P/NZX 50 increased 0.1% to snap a four-session losing streak.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures settled lower for a second straight session with the market continuing to brush off U.S. threats of sanctions against Russia and returning focus to the likelihood of oversupply after the high-demand summer season.

"After summer strength wanes, we expect the oil market to return to a sizeable surplus," analysts at Morgan Stanley said. While there have been substantial global crude and product inventory builds, "only about 10% of this has shown up in commercial OECD storage, which is critical for price formation," they said. "Non-OECD countries have been adding significantly to oil reserves, especially China."

The firm kept its Brent price estimates at $67.50 for 3Q, $65 for 4Q and $60 for 2026.

Brent settled down 0.7% at $68.71 a barrel. WTI fell 0.7% to $66.52.

Gold futures fell 0.7% to $3,329.80 per troy ounce, with the drivers for moving gold prices higher growing stale for the time being.

It's the second consecutive session that gold futures have fallen, due in part to weaker demand.

"ETF buying, which has been [a] key driver this year, has been slowing down in recent weeks, indicating cooling investor sentiment," said ING Economics.

The firm said that gold demand on a retail level is also turning weaker after having a solid first half of 2025. But gold still has a big possibility for rising to new record heights, said ING.

"The bullish drivers remain intact for gold, including central bank and safe-haven demand amid geopolitical and trade tensions."

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Dimon Defends Fed Independence After Trump Attacks

JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon sounded Wall Street's clearest warning against the Trump administration's attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, describing the central bank's independence as crucial.

"I think the independence of the Fed is absolutely critical," Dimon told media members in a call after the bank's earnings announcement. "Playing around with the Fed can have adverse consequences, the absolute opposite of what you might be hoping for."

Dimon became the first leader of a major U.S. financial institution to publicly address the administration's broadsides against the central-bank chief. Many on Wall Street have privately worried that political pressure will undermine the Fed's credibility.

Inflation Picks Up to 2.7% as Tariffs Start to Seep Into Prices

Inflation picked up in June, a potential sign that companies are starting to pass tariff costs on to consumers.

Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, faster than May's increase of 2.4%. That was in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 2.9%, also in line with forecasts.

Canada PM Carney Signals U.S. Tariffs May Be Here to Stay

OTTAWA-Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday it may not be possible to escape U.S. tariffs even with a bilateral agreement to resolve the current tariff row.

"There is not a lot of evidence right now, with regards to negotiations, of any country or jurisdiction" escaping U.S. tariffs, Carney told reporters in French ahead of a cabinet meeting in the capital.

Carney had entered talks with President Trump toward a new economic-and-security pact between the North American neighbors that included lifting all tariffs on Canadian imports. This marks the first time that he has raised the possibility that U.S. tariffs may remain in place.

China Adds Export Controls to Protect EV Battery Technology

China is seeking to further consolidate its global lead over the U.S. in certain industrial areas by making sure crucial technologies won't easily fall into the hands of foreign rivals. Its latest target: electric-vehicle batteries.

China on Tuesday added technologies for producing materials used in EV batteries onto its list of export restrictions. Those include technology linked to battery-cathode materials production as well as nonferrous metal-processing technology, associated with raw materials in batteries.

The move comes on top of China's domination of the EV battery supply chain, from lithium processing to battery production. Now, Beijing is taking the next step to ensure other countries can't easily catch up by raising the bar for foreign companies to acquire leading Chinese technologies.

JPMorgan Earnings Show Economy and Wall Street Are Still Chugging Along

America's biggest banks said on Tuesday that the U.S. economy showed signs of resilience despite escalating threats of a global trade war, a sign that American corporations and the consumer are still charging ahead.

JPMorgan Chase reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter and showed few signs of slowing down, with all of the bank's underlying businesses increasing revenue and profit.

The outlook for the U.S. economy has improved as President Trump has delayed and modified his planned tariffs on trading partners and Congress passed a major tax bill this month. Even JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who has repeatedly warned that there is widespread complacency among investors about risks to the economy, acknowledged that there had been positive developments and his bank's economists have dropped their call for a recession.

Nvidia Can Sell AI Chip to China Again After CEO Meets Trump

Nvidia said it has received assurances from the Trump administration that it can sell its H20 artificial-intelligence chip in China, days after Chief Executive Jensen Huang met President Trump.

The administration's move marks a turnabout after the Commerce Department restricted sales of the chip in April, costing Nvidia billions of dollars. The news came during a visit by Huang to Beijing, where he was meeting senior officials. "I'm very happy," he told reporters.

Shares in Nvidia rose more than 4% early trading Tuesday.

Expected Major Events for Wednesday

01:00/AUS: Jun Vacancy Report

06:30/INA: Jul Bank Indonesia Board of Governors meeting and decision

09:59/CHN: Jun FDI Foreign Direct Investment

22:45/NZ: Jun Selected Price Index

23:50/JPN: Jun Provisional Trade Statistics for the Month

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 15, 2025 16:59 ET (20:59 GMT)

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