(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened in dispersed order on Tuesday while investors, who are still wondering in which wind will turn on the front of commercial negotiations, assess the financial accounts of companies for the second quarter.

In the first exchanges, the Dow Jones index earns 0.06%, or 27.04 points, at 44,349.76 points.

Standard & Poor’s 500, wider, loses 1.18 points, or 0.02% to 6,304.42 points. The Nasdaq Composite cedes 27.70 points, or 0.13% to 20,946.478 points.

On the front of commercial negotiations with the United States, doubt is in turn while the deadline of August 1 is approaching. The European Union is considering new countermeasures against Washington. The hopes of an agreement between the United States and India are rising, Indian government officials said.

US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said on Tuesday that he would meet his Chinese counterpart next week and discuss a possible postponement of the deadline of August 12 for an increase in customs duties.

Wall Street heavy goods vehicles are starting to feel the effects of customs duties. General Motors (GM) (-5.85%) saw its net profit drop by 32% in the second quarter, to 3 billion dollars, and attributes to customs duties a loss of $ 1.1 billion on its net profit.

“Everyone is watching GM very closely, and the figures have disappointed, in particular with regard to customs duties,” said Mark Malek, director of investments at Muriel Siebert.

The fact that they have announced that the impact of customs duties will worsen in the third quarter also weighs on action.

The aerospace and defense giant RTX has reduced its forecast for annual profit, the taxation by Donald Trump of customs duties on aluminum and steel imports having plunged the markets into uncertainty, despite a high demand for its engines and after-sales services. Its action fell by 3.64%.

Another heavyweight of the defense, Lockheed Martin saw his action plunge 7.42% after reporting a profit down 80% in the second quarter, but for reasons mainly linked to a classified program in its aeronautical segment.

Despite everything, a series of good surprises in terms of results continues to maintain markets at record levels. Analysts expect S&P 500 companies counting an increase of 6.7% of their profits in the second quarter, large technological groups in mind, according to data compiled by LSEG.

On the monetary front, traders almost all exclude a decrease in rates of the federal reserve at its meeting next week and now anticipate a probability of around 56% a reduction in September, according to the Fedwatch tool of the CME.

(Written by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashya in Bangalore, Kate Entringer, edited by Augustin Turpin)

Copyright © 2025 Thomson Reuters