The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Tuesday as Wall Street awaits any progress on trade deal negotiations.
The broad market index hovered around the flatline, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 122 points, or 0.3%.
Stocks came under some pressure earlier in the session as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent failed to detail further progress on trade deals in remarks from the White House. Bessent noted substantial talks with Japan and reiterated again a deal framework could be close with India. But Bessent had no further details on China and wouldn't confirm if negotiations were even taking place with the country.
Shares of Amazon dropped Tuesday after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, standing beside Bessent, said that if a report was true that the e-commerce giant is planning to list tariff costs of goods on its site, it would be considered a "hostile and political act." The company later said that while a plan to display tariff surcharges on its site for discount store Amazon Haul was being considered, it's "not going to happen."
General Motors also declined after the automaker reported better-than-expected profit but said it was reassessing future guidance and suspending share buybacks as it awaits clarity on the impact from the levies. Shares had risen earlier on reports that Trump was willing to make concessions on foreign-made auto parts used in domestic production.
GM's decision follows a number of other companies that have announced they're reconsidering their full-year forecasts in the wake of rising global trade tensions. Last week, American Airlines and Skechers withdrew their 2025 outlooks, with both companies citing economic uncertainty.
During Monday's session, the S&P 500 eked out a gain of less than 0.1%, allowing the index to keep its winning streak alive with five straight days of gains. The Dow added about 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite ticked 0.1% lower.
"I think they're probably trapped in a in a pretty tight range here," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, adding that the S&P 500 could trade in a range between 5,100 and 5,700. "I think we can bounce around there for quite a while in kind of some volatile, choppy trading. Until we get some resolution on the trade front, I don't think much else matters."
That includes earnings season, he said. This week marks a busy week on that front, with about one-third of S&P 500-listed firms slated to post results between Monday and Friday. Big Tech is of particular focus, with Meta Platforms and Microsoft expected on Wednesday, and Apple and Amazon scheduled for Thursday.
"I don't know that there's much that could come out from this earnings quarter that would materially impact markets to the upside or downside," he also said. "We're in a policy-induced sell-off and potential recession, and it's going to take a policy change to get us out of there."
The S&P 500 is trading in a wide range on tariff uncertainty, and could fall as low as 4,600 before rising again, according to Deutsche Bank.
"We think of the S&P 500 basically inhabiting a very wide range, all the way down to 4,600, which we actually haven't been to in the pullback so far. And that would correspond to, you know, typical recession sell down, 25% down, from the peak," Deutsche's Binky Chadha told CNBC's "Money Movers." "I would put the upper end basically where our measures say equity positioning would be neutral."
"So, you're caught between, you know, these rallies on the trade relents and positive news and potential for trade deals, and on the other side, the economy is weakening, so I would argue it's still wide," Chadha added.
Chadha expects the S&P 500 will end the year at 6,150. The broad market index was last around 5,540.
Although weakness in U.S. equities is likely to occur in the next couple of weeks, pullbacks will be short-lived, according to RBC Capital Markets.
"The bottom line is we continue to expect 2025 to remain volatile, requiring investors to be more active to participate in the intermediate-term, 1-2 quarter swings, that we expect will dominate markets through year-end," technical strategist Robert Sluymer said in a Tuesday note to clients.
Growth and cyclical stocks will continue to recover from oversold levels, he said. Still, names such as Microsoft, Oracle and Tesla are among those that have bottomed in the intermediate term and are likely to see "shallow pullbacks" in the next one to two weeks, he said.
"There are significant risks" Friday's nonfarm payroll report for April will miss Wall Street consensus estimates calling for an increase of 130,000 jobs, and might even be negative, Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok told clients Tuesday.
Slok said the establishment survey and the household survey were both conducted the week that high tariffs were announced earlier this month, when there were "extreme levels of uncertainty for businesses."
"Some leading indicators suggest we could see a dramatic weakening in the labor market over the coming months," Slok wrote.
Consumer spending data for April may show a strong increase as U.S. consumers try to stock up ahead of potential price hikes from tariffs.
Barclays analyst Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason said in a note to clients that consumers seem to be aware of the potential effects of tariffs in the weeks ahead and have been spending accordingly.
"Spend on electronics, wholesale, and big ticket goods has surged in April compared to last year as consumers may be stocking up before tariff implementation," Sheldahl-Thomason said.
This jump in spending could boost some large retailers.
"Best Buy is again the store with the highest growth in transactions, followed closely by Costco. It should be noted that transactions at Costco have been up for most of 2025, but there is still a notable uptick in their transactions post-Liberation Day," the note said.
Sheldahl-Thomason did say that some seasonal factors, such as the timing of Easter