Today's stock market: Dow sets a record, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slide due to earnings and data monitoring.

U.S. stock markets finished Tuesday in a mixed, uneven pattern, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average continuing its record advance while the broader S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hovered near recent ranges as investors digested corporate earnings and incoming economic data. The market continued to strike a balance between optimism regarding earnings strength and caution regarding economic momentum and high valuations during the trading session. The Dow hit a fresh all-time high, driven by gains in industrial and financial sectors, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were largely flat or slightly positive. Many small and mid-cap stocks outperformed the more concentrated tech-heavy indexes, enhancing market breadth. Investors are now closely watching delayed jobs and inflation reports, which are expected later in the week and could influence expectations for the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path.

Corporate earnings were a central theme on Tuesday, with a stream of quarterly results helping to set the pace for trading activity.

Better-than-expected earnings and upbeat guidance from some businesses helped individual stocks and the market as a whole. However, others missed forecasts or projected slower growth, which weighed on sentiment, especially in segments of the technology sector.

One notable instance is "S&P Global Inc.", whose shares plummeted after the company reported revenue that exceeded expectations, "earnings slightly came up short of forecasts," and guidance for 2026 that was less optimistic than some investors had anticipated. Some optimism regarding "AI-immune" industries has been dampened by the fact that fierce competition and evolving AI investment trends continue to pose challenges to the mid-tier software and information services sector. This divergence — where strong earnings lift pockets of the market while weaker results pull others down — helped fuel mixed index performance. Even though softness in software and tech growth shares kept the Nasdaq subdued, in some instances, strong earnings in cyclicals and industrials helped propel the Dow higher.

Investors were also reacting to economic data releases that suggest the U.S. economy may be losing a bit of momentum as 2026 gets underway. Economists had anticipated modest growth, but December's flat retail sales came as a surprise, and "sluggish" consumer spending is raising concerns about the economic expansion's resilience. Traders now look toward the rescheduled nonfarm payrolls and CPI reports later this week for clearer signals on labor market strength and inflationary pressures after key readings on employment and inflation were delayed by the government shutdown. As markets debate how many rate cuts, if any, are still plausible in 2026, these data points are widely expected to have a direct impact on expectations for the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decisions later in the year. The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury notes has dipped slightly in response to a modest increase in demand for safe-haven assets and market pricing that anticipates a less aggressive policy environment in the future.

However, there is still widespread agreement that the Fed will likely maintain its current interest rate policy at least through the spring. A "rotation away from mega-cap technology stocks" toward economically sensitive and traditional sectors is one of the larger trends behind the uneven market performance. Investors seeking diversification and potentially more stable earnings growth outside of technology have seen an increase in inflows into financials, consumer discretionary names, and industrial companies. This shift was visible in the strong performance of names such as Datadog, Tesla, and Marriott, which helped lift certain corners of the Dow and mid-cap indexes.

Even though more speculative tech names were under pressure from broader valuation concerns related to AI spending and competitive dynamics, retailers and software service companies with solid fundamentals also received attention. Some tech companies struggled to justify high valuations in the face of rising capital expenditures and uncertain near-term returns, which was consistent with broader market skepticism regarding the pace and profitability of AI investment. On Tuesday, investor sentiment appeared to be cautiously optimistic but not overly so. Markets remained resilient in the face of mixed economic and earnings signals, but the lack of widespread, decisive upside in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indicates that traders continue to be wary of risks to the downside.

Some analysts highlight that despite decent earnings from key sectors, concerns about economic growth — particularly consumer spending — and the uncertain policy outlook may keep markets range-bound in the near term. Others contend that blue-chip and cyclically sensitive stocks, in particular, demonstrate underlying strength because of the market's capacity to hold up in the face of these mixed signals. The next few trading sessions may hinge on fresh economic data and continuing earnings reports, which will ultimately clarify how solid corporate performance is relative to broader economic trends. With major reports slated this week, including jobs and inflation updates, Wall Street’s near-term trajectory remains in flux.