Wall Street returned from the long Memorial Day weekend in a cautious mood Tuesday, with all three major indexes finishing in the red as investors weighed lingering uncertainty around Federal Reserve policy and a fresh batch of mixed economic signals. The S&P 500 slipped 0.31% to close at 5,872, the Dow eased 0.18% to 42,150, and the Nasdaq underperformed, shedding 0.47% to settle at 19,240.
The standout story of the session was Nvidia, which bucked the broader tech selloff and rallied nearly 3% after a prominent Wall Street analyst raised their price target, pointing to surging demand for AI infrastructure chips as enterprise spending accelerates. The AI darling remains one of the most-watched names on the street, and Tuesday's move reminded investors that the AI trade still has momentum even when the broader market feels wobbly.
On the flip side, Amazon was the session's biggest drag, dropping 3.1% on a report that the FTC is preparing a renewed antitrust investigation into its third-party marketplace. Regulatory headline risk has been a persistent overhang for mega-cap tech, and Tuesday was a reminder that no stock — no matter the size — is immune to Washington's reach.
Gold held near multi-month highs at $3,285 an ounce, reflecting ongoing demand for safe-haven assets, while oil settled at $74.60 a barrel. The VIX ticked up to 18.4 — not alarming, but a sign that options markets are pricing in a bit more near-term caution than last week.