In Dow Jones news today, stocks fell as President Donald Trump called the relationship between the United States and Germany "very bad."
Here are the numbers from Tuesday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Closing
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
21,029.47
-50.81
-0.24%
S&P 500
2,412.91
-2.91
-0.12%
Nasdaq
6,203.19
-7.00
-0.11%
Now here's a closer look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus Wednesday's economic calendar.
The Five Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday
Geopolitical concerns out of Europe dominated conversations on the floor of American trading exchanges. Markets weighed the challenges for Greece to meet existing debt repayments.
Crude oil prices fell despite the approach of the summer driving season. Oil prices have been hovering near five-month highs after OPEC members and several non-members agreed to extend their production cut deal until March 2018. However, ongoing concerns about a global glut continue to outweigh expected demand from American consumers. WTI crude oil price today fell 0.6%, and Brent crude dipped 1.1%.
In economic news, consumer spending rebounded in April, while monthly inflation ticked higher. The U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer spending - which accounts for two-thirds of the national economy - increased by 0.4%. Economists are hopeful that these reports indicate progress for the economy in the second quarter. Just last week, the Commerce Department reported a weak revision of Q1 GDP at 1.2%.
With Friday's jobs report in focus, markets will be speculating on the timing of the next interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Don't get distracted by the headlines. The central bank's leadership has all but guaranteed that a rate hike is coming on June 13. In fact, here are the current odds of a rate hike. Such news has investors wondering what they should do with their money next. Money Morning Options Trading Specialist Tom Gentile has offered his latest insight on how you can make gains and protect your portfolio. Read all about it, right here.
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Five Stocks to Watch Tuesday: BA, GS, ATW, CCN, AMZN
Shares of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Airbus SE (OTCMKTS: EADSY) are in focus after Russia held its maiden flight for the new MS-21 medium-range passenger plane. The flight was the first push by Russian companies into passenger aviation since the fall of the Soviet Union. The company hopes to attract bidders and says that its planes have lower maintenance costs than its competitors. Shares of BA were slightly up on the day.
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) are in focus as the nation of Venezuela continues to descend into chaos. The country's National Assembly has threatened to not pay roughly $2.8 billion in bonds that were recently purchased by the global investment bank for as little as $0.30. The Assembly's leader, Julio Borges, said that the firm was simply trying to "make a quick buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people." Shares of GS stock dipped more than 2% on the day.
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It was another busy day of deals. Shares of Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE: ATW) jumped more than 23% on news that it would be purchased by offshore driller Ensco Plc. (NYSE: ESV) for roughly $840 million. ESV stock fell more than 5% on the news. Meanwhile, First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) announced it would purchase payment processor CardConnect Corp. (Nasdaq: CCN) for roughly $750 million.
Finally, shares of Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) hit an all-time intraday high of $1,001.20. The e-commerce giant continues to crush its competitors in the brick-and-mortar retail space. The company has a market cap of more than $477.8 billion. That's more than double its rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).
After the bell, look for earnings reports from VMWare Inc. (NYSE: VMW), Synchronoss Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: SNCR), and Quanex Building Products Corp. (NYSE: NX).
Tuesday's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EDT)
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan speaks at 8 a.m.
Redbook at 8:55 a.m.
Chicago PMI at 9:45 a.m.
Pending Home Sales Index at 10 a.m.
Beige Book at 2 p.m.
Farm Prices at 3 p.m.
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams speaks at 7:30 p.m.
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.