Wall Street today: US stocks mixed after weak consumer confidence report, commodity shares rally on China stimulus

US stock indices were mixed on Tuesday after weak consumer confidence report, while commodity shares rallied after China unveiled a bumper stimulus package.

A Conference Board report showed an index tracking consumer confidence stood at 98.7 in September. The index was revised to 105.6 for August.

China's central bank on Tuesday announced a broad set of changes to bolster its economy, including a cut in slew of rates.

At 10:16 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.17 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 42,133.64, the S&P 500 lost 9.20 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 5,708.95 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 38.86 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 17,935.41.

As of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, the S&P 500 was 0.1 per centhigher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2 per cent higher.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 110.3 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 42234.99. The S&P 500 rose 9.1 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 5727.66, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 72.2 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 18046.442.

Among the megacap stocks, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms and Microsoft lost over 1 per cent each.

Copper and lithium miners such as Freeport-McMoRan rose 5.9 per cent, Southern Copper gained 7.1 per cent and Albemarle advanced 4.2 per cent and Arcadium climbed 5.8 per cent. 

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher. The 10-year yield rose to 3.78 per cent from 3.75 per cent late on Monday. The 2-year yield was steady at 3.59 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil prices jumped more than 2 per cent on Tuesday on news of monetary stimulus from China.

Brent crude futures were up $1.79, or 2.4 per cent, at $75.69 a barrel by 1320 GMT. US WTI crude futures rose $1.87, or 2.7 per cent, to $72.24.

Bullion

Gold prices surged to a record high on Tuesday on US rate cut momentum and China stimulus measures.

Spot gold rose 0.2 per cent to $2,633.25 per ounce by 1100 GMT after hitting a record of $2,639.95 earlier in the day. US gold futures gained 0.2 per centto $2,657.90.

Spot silver rose 0.7 per cent to $30.87.