Wall Street is looking ahead to Nvidia earnings after a largely silent two days in the stock market.
The Dow traded mostly flat during the day, but ended the day 0.3% higher. Same story with the S&P 500, which ended up 0.4%. The Nasdaq also stuck to the breakeven line most of the day, but managed to eke out a 0.4% gain. All three indexes ended the day slightly lower on Monday.
Small-Caps took the spotlight, though.
The Russell 2000 Index, which captures moves in the smallest 2,000 stocks, was 0.7% higher near the close on Tuesday after maintaining a lead against other indexes through the day.
The index is up about 6.64% this month to 2358.51, its largest one-month point and percentage gain since November 2024, according to preliminary Dow Jones Market Data. It has been up for four consecutive months, marking an aggregate gain of 20%, its best four-month stretch in over four years.
One can perhaps call this the summer of small caps.
Nvidia reports second-quarter earnings after the market closes Wednesday, a closely followed event given the influence the tech company has on the stock market.
Options markets imply a roughly 0.8% swing in either direction for the S&P 500 the day after the results. Nvidia made up roughly 8% of the S&P 500 market cap as of last week, the largest in the index.
Microsoft is next and accounts for roughly 6.9% of the index.
The S&P needs about 0.4% to reach a new high and Nvidia can help it get there. Until the earnings land, the market will keep weighing headlines from Washington.
President Donald Trump published a letter saying he removed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from her position. Cook’s attorney, Abbe David Lowell, said a lawsuit is planned. Trump suggested he’s prepared for a fight.