Evening Market Recap

Sophia Reyes · September 23, 2025 8:48 PM

Market Snapshot for Tuesday September 23^rd, 2025

S&P 500 – 6,656.92 (-0.55%)

Dow Jones – 46,292.78 (-0.19%)

NASDAQ – 22,573.47 (-0.95%)

Market Performance

Stocks Retreat as Powell Strikes Cautious Tone on Rate Cuts

U.S. stocks slipped Tuesday, breaking a record-setting streak after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a more cautious approach to further rate cuts and warned that equities look “fairly highly valued.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dipped 0.2% to 46,292.78. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell about 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped nearly 1%.

The pullback followed Monday’s rally, when all three major indexes logged a third straight day of record highs. Optimism over the AI trade and continued Fed policy easing fueled those gains, led by a surge in Nvidia (NVDA) after the chipmaker pledged at least $100 billion to invest in OpenAI (OPAI.PVT).

But Powell’s remarks Tuesday cooled the rally. Speaking in Rhode Island, he said the Fed would proceed “carefully” after resuming rate cuts last week, noting the difficulty of balancing inflation and employment.

“Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside — a challenging situation. Two-sided risks mean that there is no risk-free path,” Powell said. Later, in a Q&A session, he added that “by many measures… equity prices are fairly highly valued.”

His comments come ahead of Friday’s release of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index. Wall Street will watch for signs that sticky inflation isn’t heating up, which could undermine bets on two more rate reductions this year. Separate data Tuesday showed U.S. business activity slowed this month even as prices paid for materials rose, underscoring persistent cost pressures.

Economic Takeaways –

• The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX:CGI) eased more than one basis point after last week’s rise. Treasuries may be drawing support from mounting worries about a government shutdown.
• The OECD raised its 2025 global GDP forecast to 3.2% from 2.9%, citing fiscal stimulus in China, front-loaded industrial production ahead of tariff hikes, and robust U.S. AI investment. U.S. growth expectations also edged up to 1.8% from 1.6%.
• With federal funding set to expire Sept. 30 and no agreement on an extension, the odds of an Oct. 1 government shutdown are increasing. A House-passed stopgap measure failed in the Senate; President Trump meets Democratic leaders Thursday in hopes of breaking the deadlock.
• The US manufacturing and services sectors grew less than expected in September, according to S&P Global’s US Flash PMI reading. The S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI hit 52, below the 52.2 expected by economists polled by Bloomberg and the reading of 53 last month. Meanwhile, the US Services PMI was 53.9, below the reading of 54 expected and 54.5 last month. Readings above 50 signal expansion in the sectors.

Gold –

• Gold futures hit a new record on Tuesday to surpass $3,800 in intraday tradingas Wall Street analysts predicted that the precious metal still has room to run. Goldman Sachs reiterating a forecast of $4,000 by the middle of next year and UBS predicting $3,900 during the same time frame.
• Futures rose 0.4% to trade near $3,800 per troy ounce, while bullion for immediate delivery traded near $3,777 per ounce.

Oil –

• Oil prices settled up more than $1 a barrel on Tuesday after a deal to resume exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan stalled, pacifying some investor concerns that the restart would exacerbate worries about global oversupply.
• Brent crude futures settled up $1.06, or 1.6%, at $67.63 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.13, or 1.8%, to end at $63.41 a barrel. Both benchmarks recouped modest earlier losses.

Crypto –

• Crypto giant Tether is in talks to raise as much as $20 billion in a private placement that could value the El Salvador-based firm at about $500 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The company is seeking $15 billion to $20 billion for roughly a 3% stake.
• Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum all fell after a big crypto sell off.

Lithium Americas Soars on Reported Trump Administration Stake Talks

Shares of Lithium Americas (LAC) jumped as much as 90% in after-hours trading Tuesday following a Reuters report that the Trump administration is pursuing up to a 10% equity stake in the mining and chemicals company.

According to the report, administration officials are renegotiating the terms of a $2.26 billion Energy Department loan for the company’s Nevada lithium project — a loan originally granted under President Biden. The Thacker Pass project is slated to become one of the largest domestic lithium sources in the United States.

The potential investment would mirror other equity deals the Trump administration has struck with key industries, including chipmaker Intel (INTC) and critical minerals producer MP Materials (MP).

Top Gainers

Several stocks experienced significant gains. Some of the top gainers included:

BGM Group Ltd. (BGM) +31.58%

Crane NXT, Co. (CXT) +14.68%

Heartflow, Inc. (HTFL) +14.13%

BigBear.ai Holdings (BBAI) +12.85%

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) +12.18%

Top Losers

The top US stock losers today, based on percentage change included:

Opendoor Technologies (OPEN) -15.39%

Firefly Aerospace (FLY) -15.31%

Symbotic,Inc. (SYM) -10.72%

Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) -10.30%

Generac Holding (GNRC) -10.27%

Notables

• Micron (MU) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings results after the bell Tuesday that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations.
• Apple (AAPL) climbed toward all-time highs after Wedbush raised its price target to $310, citing strong early demand for the iPhone 17. The gain pushed Apple into positive territory for the year, after months of underperformance on fears it was lagging in the AI space.
• Boeing (BA) rose on reports that the U.S. and China are nearing a trade deal potentially covering up to 500 aircraft.
• Tesla (TSLA) surged following an upgrade from Baird and a price-target increase from Piper Sandler.
• Shares of the online real estate company Better Home & Finance (BETR) popped more than 27% in premarket trading on Tuesday, adding to Monday’s 46% rally after activist investor Eric Jackson called the company“the Shopify of mortgages.”
• Plug Power (PLUG) stock continued to see significant gains on Tuesday. Over the past five days, shares have rallied 68%, including a 21% gain on Monday.
• Kenvue (KVUE) stock rebounded on Tuesday morning after President Trump linked the use of its pain-relieving drug Tylenol to autism but didn’t offer new scientific evidence to support that claim.
• Oracle (ORCL) shares fell around 5% Tuesday, partly reversing an upswing on Monday, when the software giant’s shares surged more than 6% as the White House confirmed that the company is part of a consortium of investors that will control TikTok’s US operations.
• Nvidia (NVDA) shares nudged 2% lower in early trading on Tuesday after climbing roughly 4% to a record close of $183.61 on Monday following the chipmaker’s announcement of a $100 billion investment in OpenAI.

What to Watch Ahead

Investors are looking ahead to Friday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

After an unusually upbeat September in which stocks defied typical seasonal weakness, October could deliver a reality check. The rally fueled by earnings optimism and Fed support now faces the onset of volatility season — and traders may want to brace themselves.