Wall Street mixed as investors assess earnings, GM surges 5.2%, UHG slumps 19%, Boeing dips 3%, UPS rises 1.8%

Major US stock market indices moved in opposite directions on Tuesday with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gaining, while the Dow Jones falling as investors assessed fresh round of earnings.

As of 10:05 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.8% higher.

At 09:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 305.69 points, or 0.62%, to 49,106.71, the S&P 500 gained 13.94 points, or 0.20%, to 6,964.17 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 112.68 points, or 0.48%, to 23,714.03.

Investors are awaiting earnings reports from megacap companies Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla this week.

The market is also bracing for the Federal Reserve's policy decision. Its two-day meeting started on Tuesday.

The US central bank is widely expected to hold key interest rates steady on Wednesday.

Key Stock Movers

Healthcare stocks tumbled after the US government projected rate increase for Medicare Advantage.

UnitedHealthcare Group slumped nearly 19%, Humana shed 18.7%, Elevance Health dropped 10.8%, and CVS Health sank 8.9%.

General Motors shares surged 5.2%, and RTX gained 2%. Both the companies reported profits for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Boeing shares were down 2.90% despite the planemaker swung to a profit in the fourth quarter on stronger deliveries.

United Parcel Service (UPS) stock rose 1.80% after the delivery giant beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly results.

Corning stock climbed 8.9% after the firm announced a deal with Meta Platforms worth up to $6 billion.

Bullion Market

Gold prices edged higher on Tuesday as persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty fueled safe-haven demand.

Gold has surged 18% so far this year.

As of 9:41 a.m. EST (1441 GMT), spot gold was up 1.3% to $5,079.62 per ounce. US gold futures for February delivery were down 0.1% to $5,075 per ounce.

Spot silver jumped 5.7% to $109.80 an ounce after hitting an all time high of $117.69 on Monday.

Spot platinum fell 4.5% to $2,632.87 per ounce, while palladium was down 2.4% to $1,935.

Crude Oil

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday as producers reeled from a winter storm that disrupted crude production and affected refineries on the US Gulf Coast over the weekend.

By 10:29 a.m. EDT (1529 GMT), Brent crude futures were up 61 cents or 0.93%, at $66.20 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 59 cents or 0.97%, at $61.22 a barrel.

American oil producers lost up to 2 million barrels per day or 15% of national production over the weekend due to a severe winter storm, according to Reuters.