US stocks end higher amid gains in financial shares

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks closed higher Tuesday, bolstered by increases in financial shares, while software stocks continued to fall.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.07%, or 32.26 points, to 49,533.19.

The Nasdaq gained 0.14%, or 31.71 points, to 22,578.38, while the S&P 500 added 0.1%, or 7.05 points, to reach 6,843.22.

The Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the "fear index," fell 4.29% to 20.29.

Investors shifted their focus from defunct software brands, which contributed to this year's losses, to financial equities like JPMorgan and Citigroup. While JPMorgan's shares increased by more than 1.5%, Citi's shares surged 2.6%.

Goldman Sachs climbed 1.2% and Wells Fargo was up 0.5%.

Concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) tools may displace sector-specific software vendors have been plaguing software firms.

ServiceNow saw a decrease of over 1%. Palo Alto Networks and Autodesk had a more than 2% decline. Shares of Oracle and Salesforce fell around 3%.

Last week, concerns about AI disruption impacted sectors like software, real estate, trucking and financial services, causing the S&P 500 to have its second straight negative week.

Over 1% was lost by the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 last week, while over 2% was lost by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Japan is moving ahead with the first tranche of investments under its $550 billion commitment as part of the trade deal announced in July last year, highlighting three “tremendous” projects in oil, gas and critical minerals in the US.

"Our MASSIVE Trade Deal with Japan has just launched," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Tuesday that adjustments could be made to steel and aluminum tariffs for compliance purposes, but these tariffs would remain in effect.