Stocks rally as traders prepare for a slew of tech earnings

FILE
PHOTO: Traders react at the closing bell on the floor of the NYSE
in New York
Thomson
Reuters

Stocks were mostly higher Tuesday with the Nasdaq briefly hitting
a record high ahead of a slew of tech earnings out this week. The
dollar
was largely unchanged against a basket of peers, and the Treasury
yield inched lower. 

Here’s the scoreboard:

Dow Jones industrial
average:
 25,240.18 +195.89
(+0.78%)

S&P
500:
 2,815.30 +8.32 (+0.30%)

1. The Trump administration announced a
   $12 billion plan to aid farmers hit by its trade
   crackdown. The program, which will be funded by
   the Department of Agriculture’s broad authority and two
   components of the farm bill, was rolled out amid rising
   frustrations among American farmers and ranchers.
2. The Office of the US Trade Representative
   kicked off public hearings on pending tariffs against
   China. The 25% tariffs, which would target $16
   billion worth of goods, would be in addition to US duties on
   $34 billion worth of Chinese products enacted earlier this
   month.
3. The Chinese yuan
   tumbled to a 13-month low. The slide came
   after Beijing rolled out tax cuts and increased infrastructure
   spending, along with plans to inject $74 billion into the
   banking system through its medium-term lending
   facility. 
4. Earnings season rolls on. Harley
   Davidson topped expectations
   for a sixth straight quarter, but the company reiterated
   warnings that
   Trump’s tariffs could squeeze its margins. Alphabet
   hit a record high after crushing analyst expectations after the
   bell on Monday —
   here’s a look at Wall Street is saying about it. 

And a look at the upcoming economic calendar:

• President Donald Trump meets with European Commission
  President Jean-Claude Juncker.
• Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter report earnings in the coming
  days.
• US new home sales numbers are out.
• Eurozone money supply data cross the wire.

See also:

Goldman Sachs breaks down the
damage a trade war could cause in the stock market and 2 ways
investors can protect themselves

No investment is safe as market
turbulence spikes to the highest since the financial crisis — and
Morgan Stanley says there’s only one solution

Citi has poached a Chase executive
to run its ‘Shark Tank’-type program that lets employees build
start-ups from within the company