US stocks wavered on Tuesday as investors weighed the likely fallout of President Trump's latest tariff blitz and the US government careened toward its first shutdown in seven years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell just below the flatline. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slid slightly, coming off modest closing gains on Wall Street.

Markets are bracing for a government shutdown after Trump and Republicans met with Democrats in the Oval Office on Monday but failed to strike a deal to avert a halt to funding. "I think we're headed to a shutdown," Vice President JD Vance said after the meeting.

Lawmakers have until 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday to reach a last-gasp agreement or see the first stoppage since 2019. Odds of a shutdown are near 93%, according to Polymarket.

For Wall Street, the concern is that the government's economic data releases will halt during a stoppage. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will "completely cease operations" if it happens, the Department of Labor said, likely delaying the release of Friday's nonfarm payrolls report among other top-tier data crucial to the Federal Reserve's policy setting.

A JOLTS update on September job openings released Tuesday could be the last labor market insight from the BLS for some time. The report showed job openings rose more than expected. Hiring slowed and layoffs dropped, consistent with the "low-hire, low-fire" market that has taken shape in recent months.

In other economic data, an update on consumer confidence showed the Conference Board's measure dropping to its lowest point since April, in the throes of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff salvos. Consumers expressed a dim outlook on the job market in particular, the report said.

Meanwhile, Trump sent out a fresh flurry of tariffs on lumber, timber, and certain types of furniture late Monday, hot on the heels of a threat of levies on foreign-made movies and last week's plan to put 100% duties on branded drugs. Concerns are growing about the impact on the global economy from Trump's ever-expanding trade offensive, after new data showed China and Japan's factories are still caught in a slump.

Looking forward, Nike (NKE) is expected to report earnings after the bell.

It’s not just gold (GC=F) notching a strong quarter as a potential government shutdown looms.

Silver futures (SI=F) are up 27% over the past three months, versus gold’s more than 15% rise, and roughly 58% year-to-date compared with the yellow metal’s 45%.

On Tuesday, gold futures held near record highs above $3,875 an ounce, while silver futures traded just under $46. The metal was within striking distance from their closing high of $48.70 set in January 1980, during a famed silver squeeze, when two brothers tried to corner the market.

Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports:

This is shaping up to be the year of the mega deal for Wall Street bankers.

Thus far, companies have announced 49 global M&A transactions valued at more than $10 billion, according to Mergermarket, the highest such count for so-called mega deals through the first nine months of any year ever.

These transactions include the $55 billion leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts (EA) announced Monday, Union Pacific's (UNP) $85 billion merger with rival railroad Norfolk Southern (NSC) in July, and Google's (GOOG) $32 billion acquisition of cloud security firm Wiz unveiled in March.

Read more here.

Pfizer (PFE) stock is moving higher on Tuesday after the pharmacy giant announced an agreement with the Trump administration to lower drug prices.

The company called it a \\"historic\\" agreement with the White House. In a release, Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said this will enable a \\"greater investment in the U.S. biopharmaceutical ecosystem by ending the days when American families alone carried the global burden of paying for innovation.\\"

Americans will be able to buy from a direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRx. Pfizer said the medicines will be at \\"a significant discount\\" of 50% on average. It is the first company to join the agreement, but more companies are expected to join the initiative after the president sent 17 letters to companies back in July.

The companies had until Sept. 29 to comply, and if not, the federal government said it “will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices\\" if they did not follow through.

As part of the agreement, Pfizer will also be exempt from tariffs for a three-year agreed-upon grace period if it commits to returning manufacturing to the United States.

The company said it plans to \\"expand investment in U.S.-based innovation and return manufacturing to the U.S.\\" as part of an $70 billion commitment to US research, development, and other projects in the coming years. The company said that with the agreement in place, it will look to invest in the next generation of cures around cancer, obesity, vaccines, inflammation, and immunology.

“We now have the certainty and stability we need on two critical fronts, tariffs and pricing, that have suppressed the industry’s valuations to historic lows,\\" Bourla said.

Alphabet stock (GOOG, GOOGL) may be down 1% on Tuesday, but it's pacing for its best quarterly performance in 20 years.

Barring an extreme move Tuesday, Alphabet is on track to close the third quarter with a 35% gain since July 1. As financial writer Mike Zaccardi points out, that marks the best quarter for the stock since 2005.

On Monday, the Google parent company settled a lawsuit with President Trump and agreed to pay the president $24 million over the suspension of his YouTube account following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. According to the filing, $22 million of that sum will go toward the renovation of the new ballroom in the White House.

US consumer confidence fell in September as Americans worried about inflation and became concerned about future job availability.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index declined by 3.6 points in September to 94.2 from 97.8 in August. The Present Situation Index, which tracks consumers’ views on current business and labor market conditions, dropped 7 points to 125.4.

“Consumer confidence weakened in September, declining to the lowest level since April 2025,” said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board. “The present situation component registered its largest drop in a year. Consumers’ assessment of business conditions was much less positive than in recent months, while their appraisal of current job availability fell for the ninth straight month to reach a new multiyear low.”

Meanwhile, consumers’ 12-month inflation expectations nudged lower to 5.8% in September. In August, consumers saw inflation running at a 12-month rate of 6.1%.

Read more about consumer confidence and why it matters

Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose more than 2% in morning trading on Tuesday to a fresh record of over $186.

The stock's rise comes as Citi (C) analyst Atif Malik on Tuesday forecast that AI capital expenditures from 2025 through 2029 would hit $2.8 trillion.

Also on Tuesday, CoreWeave (CRWV), an Nvidia-backed company that's also a major customer of Nvidia, announced a $14 billion deal with Meta (META), which CEO Michael Intrator revealed during an interview with Bloomberg, sending the stock up.

Nvidia has also unveiled its own recent flurry of deals, from a $100 billion investment in OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) to a $5 billion stake in Intel (INTC).

The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the number of job openings was little changed in August.

Job openings rose by 19,000 to total 7.23 million during the month, in line with estimates for 7.2 million job openings, while the number of quits was also little changed at 3.1 million. Job openings decreased in construction (-115,000) and in the federal government (-61,000).

This JOLTS report holds particular significance, as a government shutdown on Wednesday is likely to delay the release of the September jobs report if Congress is unable to break its stalemate, which could muddy the Fed's decision making at its October meeting. It also comes as the labor market has started to soften in recent months.

Investors will still get private payrolls data from ADP on Wednesday.

“The totality of the data plus the policy standoff in Washington is creating a much … greater degree of difficulty for the Fed to stick the landing here,” RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas told Yahoo Finance. “They’re going to have a hard time discerning what’s what ahead of the October 28-29 policy meeting.”

Read more here.

Robinhood's stock (HOOD) continues to accumulate gains — and the most recent catalyst is the fintech company's prediction markets.

On Monday, CEO Vlad Tenev revealed on X that Robinhood's prediction markets surpassed 4 billion event contracts traded, propelling the stock 12% higher during the session. On Tuesday, the stock opened another 3% higher. Year to date, Robinhood shares are up 278%, nearly quadrupling their value in 2025.

The company, which began as a retail trading platform, has been rolling out new services, such as a credit card and checking accounts, over the past year as it seeks to diversify into banking and become a one-stop shop for financial services.

On Monday, Tenev teased another feature — short selling — coming soon to the platform. \\"Shorting on Robinhood. Soon for bears of all sizes,\\" he posted alongside an image of three bears.

US stocks edged lower on Tuesday morning as the chance of a government shutdown and new lumber tariffs weighed on equities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), the S&P 500 (^GSPC), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all slipped just below the flat line.

Elsewhere in markets, gold (GC=F) retreated from its record highs, down 0.2%, and crude oil (CL=F, BZ=F) prices also fell 1%. The 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) ticked lower by about 1 basis point to 4.12%.

CoreWeave's (CRWV) shares jumped over 9% in premarket trading after it inked a $14.2 billion deal to provide Meta (META) with AI computing power.

The Nvidia-backed (NVDA) AI data center operator will give Meta access to the chipmaker's latest GB300 systems, Bloomberg reported.

The social media giant's shares were up fractionally before the market open, while futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) traded flat.

The news comes on the heels of CoreWeave's $6.5 billion agreement with OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) announced last week.

Its Meta partnership is the latest in a flurry of recent multibillion-dollar deals that highlight the high costs of and demand for AI infrastructure. These range from Nvidia's $100 billion investment and collaboration with OpenAi, while the ChatGPT maker itself has sealed a reported $300 billion contract with Oracle (ORCL).

Wolfspeed (WOLF) stock surged more than 25% before the bell on Tuesday, after the chipmaker emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it reduced its overall debt by about 70%.

Reuters reports:

The move has restored investor confidence in the company's prospects to become a leading provider of silicon carbide semiconductors, known for their superior energy efficiency, to electric-vehicle makers amid growing electrification and increasing chip content in automobiles.

\\"Wolfspeed has emerged from its expedited restructuring process, marking the beginning of a new era,\\" CEO Robert Feurle had said on Monday.

Wolfspeed had filed for bankruptcy protection in June due to deepening economic uncertainty stemming from changing U.S. trade policies and weakening demand.

Since then, it has restructured, worked toward extending debt maturities and made significant leadership changes, including naming industry veteran Van Issum as its chief financial officer.

Read more here.

As luxury products, with their high margins, seem to be thriving in the travel segment, budget services are struggling, especially in the travel segment.

Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban writes in today's Morning Brief newsletter:

The low-cost airline natural selection seems to be upon us. But now, there's a chance low-cost options in the hospitality world are ripe for their own reckoning as their own math becomes increasingly unworkable.

Just as budget airlines are struggling with weaker leisure travel demand, low-budget hotels are losing their footing. Their weaker performance compared to more upscale lodging highlights a major theme in the post-COVID economy, one that increasingly defines all of American consumption: the K-shaped recovery. One line goes up while the other goes down.

\\"We are increasingly concerned about the backdrop for lower-end and select service hotels,\\" wrote Bank of America analysts Shaun Kelley and Dany Asad in a report on Monday.

The trend brings heightened risk for Choice (CHH) and Wyndham (WH), whose portfolios are most exposed to low-end hotels, while the properties of Hyatt (H), Marriott (MAR), and Hilton (HLT) are mostly upscale and luxury.

Read more here.

Spotify (SPOT) CEO Daniel Ek will hand over the CEO role to two executives on Jan. 1, the music streaming company announced Tuesday.

Gustav Söderström, Spotify's chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, the chief business officer, were tapped to become co-CEOs, while Ek will transition into an executive chairman role. Ek, who co-founded the streaming giant in 2006, said he would remain engaged \\"on the long arc of the company.\\"

\\"Over the last few years, I’ve turned over a large part of the day-to-day management and strategic direction of Spotify to Alex and Gustav — who have shaped the company from our earliest days and are now more than ready to guide our next phase,\\" Ek said in a statement. \\"This change simply matches titles to how we already operate.\\"

Spotify shares dropped 4% in premarket trading on the news.

Read more here.

Economic data: FHFA house price index (July); MNI Chicago PMI (September); JOLTS job openings (August); Conference Board consumer confidence (September); Dallas Fed services activity (September)

Earnings calendar: Nike (NKE), Paychex (PAYX), Lamb Weston Holdings (LW)

Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:

The 3 areas where a shutdown will hit fast

Trump sets out lumber tariffs in blow to Canada

Budget hotels squeezed by shaky economy

Fed Vice Chair Jefferson says US job market weakening

Google to pay $24.5 million to end Trump suit over Jan. 6 ban

OpenAI revenue rises to $4.3 billion in first half: Report

Trump to keep tariff probes running through government shutdown

Trump team eyes Wall Street tool to add clout in vital minerals

Gold slips as traders take stock of record-breaking rally

NBCUniversal-YouTube fight shows streaming's new power struggle

China bans all BHP iron ore cargoes

\\"I think we're headed to a shutdown,\\" Vice President JD Vance said overnight, as both sides left an Oval Office meeting saying no deal is in the immediate offing.

The lack of progress boosts the odds of the first government stoppage since 2019, which could begin one minute after midnight on Tuesday, unless a last-minute deal is struck.

Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul lays out the likely fallout:

Such a stalemate could produce unpredictable economic impacts, some of which could be felt quickly and others that could grow with each passing day.

Some effects are already in evidence in currency markets, but much of the market focus for now is on the government’s economic data, which will cease being published and gathered if a stoppage goes forward.

That comes as both investors and the central bankers at the Federal Reserve are looking for all the information they can get about both the slowing labor market and persistent inflation ahead of another policy meeting in October. ...

Here [are] three areas where a shutdown could be noticed quickly:

Delayed (and then potentially less fulsome) economic data

Fear of new layoffs among the government's workforce

Uncertainty at airports and other scattered shutdown effects

Read more here.

Here's a look at some of the top stocks trending in premarket trading:

Wolfspeed (WOLF) stock soared over 19% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the chipmaker said it had exited a Chapter 11 bankruptcy after cutting its total debt by almost 70%.

Intel (INTC) stock fell 2% before the bell on Tuesday after surging over 20% during last week's trading. Intel seeking investment from Apple (AAPL) had sent the chipmakers stock up.

Newmont Corp. (NEM) shares fell 3% premarket after announcing a change to their leadership on Monday, with the exit of Newmont’s CEO, Tom Palmer, on Dec. 31.

Google-owned YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump, after he was suspended from the video platform following the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.

Shares in parent company Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) were little changed in premarket trading after the deal was disclosed on Monday.

The settlement resolves Trump's claim that the banishment from his channel amounted to illegal censorship.

It also makes Google's YouTube the last of the three social-media giants sued by Trump to settle over Jan. 6 bans. Meta (META) agreed to pay $25 million to end a Facebook-related suit in January, while X laid out about $10 million in February over a Twitter suspension, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bloomberg reports:

When Trump separately sued Google, Facebook and Twitter over his deplatforming, he sought monetary damages to punish the companies and ensure other users can’t be banned or flagged by the tech giants. All three companies eventually dropped the bans, but by then Trump had largely shifted his social media commentary to his own network, Truth Social.

He went on to lose his case against Twitter in a trial court, with a San Francisco federal judge ruling in 2021 that the company didn’t trample constitutional free-speech rights when it suspended his account and those of other users for violations of its terms of service. Trump’s appeal was still pending when a settlement was reached.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) rose to another record, extending Monday’s surge as the prospect of a looming US government shutdown clouded the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path ahead of next month’s interest-rate decision.

Bullion gained as much as 0.9% to an all-time $3,867.25 an ounce, eclipsing the peak reached in the previous session when it closed up 2%. A meeting between top congressional leaders and President Donald Trump ended without a deal on the government’s short-term funding. That’s fanned fears of a shutdown, which could hinder the release of economic reports — depriving investors of crucial data needed to assess the US economy.

Read more here.