Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 10, 2026.
NYSE
The S&P 500 moved lower on Tuesday as investors reacted to weaker-than-expected retail sales data and grew concerned about the threat artificial intelligence poses to the financial sector.
The broad-based index traded down 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 97 points, or 0.2%. The index had scored its third consecutive intraday record earlier in the day, a move that comes after it surpassed the 50,000 level for the first time ever last week.
Under pressure Tuesday were shares of retailers Costco and Walmart, which fell more than 2% and more than 1%, respectively. That’s after the latest retail sales report showed that consumer spending in December was flat, missing the 0.4% monthly gain that economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting. Retail sales had increased 0.6% in November.
Investors are awaiting the big jobs report on Wednesday, and the consumer price index on Friday.
“The other component of a stretched lower- and middle-income consumer right now is how they feel about the job environment, and we know that they’re a little bit more uncertain,” Anthony Saglimbene, Ameriprise Financial’s chief market strategist, told CNBC. “If we do see weaker-than-expected job growth in January, that could kind of strain this broadening theme a little bit.”
Financial stocks also took a hit Tuesday after tech platform Altruist launched a new AI-powered tax planning tool. Shares of LPL Financial declined 7%, while shares of Charles Schwab dropped 6% and Morgan Stanley dipped 2%.
“There seems to be a rotation into other areas that may be more insulated from that AI trade,” Saglimbene added, noting recent gains in sectors such as materials and utilities.
Wall Street is coming off a second straight day of gains as tech stocks rallied, building on their Friday comeback. The Dow in particular notched fresh highs on an intraday and closing basis. Investors are hopeful the market can sustain its upward advance after last week’s sell-off failed to meaningfully hurt the market on a technical basis.
Indeed, the S&P 500 has managed to recover support above its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, after dipping below them last week, and many asset classes are outperforming the index — bullish signals as far as traders are concerned.