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Stock Market Today: Stocks higher as Trump unveils tariff, energy aims

Check back for updates throughout the trading day

U.S. stocks moved firmly higher in early Tuesday trading, but investors worldwide remained braced for near-term volatility as they absorbed a torrent of first-day declarations on trade, energy and immigration policies from President Donald Trump.

Updated at 9:37 AM EST

Solid open

The S&P 500 was marked 33 points, or 0.57% higher in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq rising 90 points, or 0.46%.

The Dow gained 212 points while the mid-cap Russell 2000 up 21 points, or 0.94%.

"For the first time this year, bulls have some momentum to work with," said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading and investing at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. "Stocks are coming off their biggest up week in more than two months, as traders embraced cooler-than-expected inflation data and strong earnings from big banks."

"With a light economic calendar this week, earnings may dictate whether the S&P 500 can post back-to-back up weeks for the first time since early December," he added.

Updated at 9:03 AM EST

Intel in play?

Intel is moving higher in early heavy volume, with around 4.3 million shares changing hands in premarket, amid speculation that the troubled chipmaker could be a takeover target.

SemiAccurate, a tech and chip-focused website, reported the potential interest last week, citing a "high level" source and an email that cited an unnamed buyer.

Last month, Intel 's co-CEOs Michelle Johnston Holthaus and David Zinsner floated the idea of spinning off its chip manufacturing business from its chip design operations as part of the group's long-running turnaround.

Intel shares were last marked 2.85% higher in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $22.09 each and a market value of around $95 billion.

Updated at 6:43 AM EST

3M on the tape

3M ( MMM ) shares edged higher after the industrial bellwether posted modestly stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and issued its first 2025 profit forecast.

Earnings for the three months ended in December were $1.68 a share, 2 cents ahead of Wall Street forecasts, with revenue to 4% to $6.01 billion.

Looking into 2025, the St. Paul, Minn., Post-it and industrial tape maker sees 2025 profit of $7.60 to $7.90 a share, bang in line with Wall Street forecasts of around $7.77 a share, with revenue edging just behind the analyst consensus estimate.

3M shares were marked 1.25% higher in premarket trading immediately following the earnings report to indicate an opening-bell price of $142.79.

Stock Market Today

Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president yesterday in Washington, immediately declared a national emergency, which he said would enable accelerated oil and gas drilling, while he revoked an executive order from former President Joe Biden that capped U.S. exports.

On tariffs, a key plank in both his reelection campaign and his inaugural address, Trump at first declined to introduce "day one" levies on imported goods but quickly added that he could impose them on both Canada and Mexico as early as Feb. 1.

China would remain a focus of study, he said, as would the issue of inflation, which he incorrectly described as running at "record highs," through a direct order to his cabinet to reduce prices.

“There was a suggestion of a possible deal with China involving the sale of a stake in TikTok, while Europeans were told they needed to buy more oil and gas to avoid tariffs," said Lindsay James, investment strategist at London-based Quilter Investors.

"With Europe already scrambling for [liquefied natural gas] supplies in a tight market, leaders are likely to make warm noises in response to this demand, but whether additional supply is available remains debatable," he added. "Either way, this president is set to be a force to be reckoned with and is already rewriting the rules of power for an advanced economy."

The collective actions whipsawed markets in overnight trading, with the U.S. dollar first falling sharply and then recovering, while global stocks moved in and out of positive territory heading into the start of trading on Wall Street.

Related: Inflation report tames major S&P 500 threat

The U.S. dollar index was last marked 0.6% lower against a basket of global currencies at 108.679, while the Canadian dollar fell to a fresh five-year low of 1.4515 following Trump's reference to a 25% levy on imported goods.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields, meanwhile, were marked 4 basis points lower from Friday's close at 4.571% while 2-year notes were trading at 4.259%.

In energy markets, crude oil prices slipped in overnight trading, with Brent contracts for March delivery falling 94 cents to $79.23 per barrel and WTI contracts for February down 80 cents to $75.75 per barrel.

Stock futures, meanwhile, suggest a solid start to the trading day, with futures linked to the S&P 500 priced for an opening-bell gain of around 24 points and those tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average priced for a 152-point advance.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 105 points higher with Intel ( INTC ) , Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Tesla ( TSLA ) active in premarket trading.

More Wall Street Analysis:

In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 nudged 0.22% higher in early Frankfurt trading. But automaker stocks were in the red after Trump revoked an executive order that aimed to have 50% of cars sold in the U.S. be electric by 2030. Britain's FTSE 100, meanwhile, was marked 0.07% higher in London.

Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.32% higher in Tokyo while modest gains for China stocks, tied to a lack of definitive remarks on tariffs in Trump's inauguration address, helped the regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark to a 0.03% gain.

Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire S&P 500 warning for 2025