U.S. Stocks Close Mixed Following Volatile Trading Session

(RTTNews) - Following the notable rebound seen in the previous session, stocks saw substantial volatility over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages recovered from a significant early pullback only to once again come under pressure late in the session.

The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Dow climbed 202.88 points or 0.4 percent to 46,270.46 after plunging more than 600 points in early trading, the S&P 500 dipped 10.41 points or 0.2 percent to 6,644.31 and the Nasdaq slid 172.91 points or 0.8 percent to 22,521.70.

The late-day pullback on Wall Street came as a post by President Donald Trump on social media platform Truth Social reinforced earlier concerns about trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

Trump accused China of an "economically hostile act" by purposefully not buying U.S. soybeans and threatened to terminate business with China having to do with cooking oil and other elements of trade as retribution.

Stocks also came amid under pressure early in the session amid concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions after Trump's more conciliatory post about China helped trigger the substantial rebound on Monday.

Asked about the dispute over China's expansion of export controls on rare earths, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce suggested the country was only responding to Washington's restrictions on Chinese firms.

"The U.S. has long overstated national security, abused export controls, and adopted discriminatory practices against China," the spokesperson said, according to Google translate.

They added, "In particular, since the Madrid trade talks between China and the U.S., the U.S. has continued to impose a series of new restrictive measures on China, which have seriously harmed China's interests and seriously undermined the atmosphere of the bilateral trade talks."

The spokesperson reiterated that China is willing to "fight to the end" if there is a trade war but said the "door is open" to trade talks.

Beijing has also announced sanctions against five U.S.-based subsidiaries of South Korean shipping giant Hanwha Ocean, accusing the firm of cooperating with Washington in its curbs on China's maritime sector.

The early selling pressure was partly offset by upbeat news from big-name financial companies, contributing to the recovery attempt.

Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) spiked by 7.2 percent after the financial giant reported better than expected third quarter results and raised its profitability target.

Citigroup (C) also surged by 3.9 percent after reporting third quarter results that exceeded estimates, although JPMorgan Chase (JPM) moved notably lower despite reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Sector News

Airline stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.2 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent surge by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Banking, networking and telecom stocks also turned in strong performances on the day, while significant weakness among semiconductor and computer hardware stocks re-emerged in late-day trading.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.7 percent.

Most European stocks have also moved to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index is down by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries moved higher over the course of the session, extending last Friday's surge. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 2.9 basis points to a one-month closing low of 4.022 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to earnings news from financial giants Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) as well as remarks by several Fed officials.