S&P 500 rises for a second straight day as investors try to shake September doldrums: Live updates

Stocks wavered throughout Tuesday’s trading session, with two of the three major U.S. indexes ending in the green.

The S&P 500 gained 0.45% to settle at 5,495.52, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.84% to close at 17,025.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 92.63 points, or 0.23%, to end at 40,736.96.

— Pia Singh

The first week of the National Football League season was not a great one for sportsbooks, according to Bank of America.

Analyst Shaun Kelley said in a note to clients that a week dominated by favorites in the NFL could hurt the “hold” for sportsbooks, which is a key factor in determining whether the house turns a profit.

“Several key factors impact hold in any given week including 1) favorites winning (outright for moneyline bets or covering the spread), 2) over-unders (overs are more popular so bad for hold) and 3) popular prop bets esp. for top athletes and stars. … In Week 1, 13 of the 16 favorites won outright which could be modestly negative for sportsbook hold,” the note said.

On the bright side, total transactions and active users for sportsbooks were up sharply year after year, according to Bank of America.

— Jesse Pound

Ally Financial shares tanked 17% and headed for their worst day since March 2020.

The declines came after the company’s Chief Financial Officer Russell Hutchinson warned at an industry conference of heightened credit challenges during the current quarter as borrowers grapple with higher living costs and inflation. Hutchinson highlighted auto loans for retail customers as the main area of concern.

Shares have slumped nearly 6% year to date.

Avenue Capital CEO Marc Lasry believes the Federal Reserve will pull off a “very” soft landing as the central bank squashes inflation.

“The Fed has controlled inflation,” Lasry said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.” “They’re seeing that the economy is slowing a little bit so the Fed is going to lower rates and they will keep doing that as long as inflation is staying where it is… I think it’s ‘very’ soft [landing].”

The billionaire investor added that the Fed is not behind the curve in cutting interest rates. It is widely expected that the central bank will lower rates by at least a quarter-percentage point at next week’s policy meeting.

— Yun Li

Oracle’s first-quarter earnings and revenue beat has left many analysts feeling positive about the company’s outlook moving forward.

Bernstein, which recently listed the name as one of its top picks heading into the end of the year, said it was the “right quarter at the right time” for Oracle and that the results signal a potential upward revision for its fiscal 2026 forecast at the company’s Sept. 12 analyst day.

“We reiterate our thesis that not only is Oracle a defensive name to own amid uncertainty, but it also has robust growth drivers which will accelerate the revenue in the upcoming years,” the firm wrote in a Tuesday note to clients.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank and Barclays also offered bullish views. Deutsche analysts said they see a “credible path” toward either hitting or exceeding fiscal 2026 revenue targets and likewise expect such targets to be updated at this week’s analyst day, while Barclays analysts see “even better times ahead” with shares moving higher.

Bank of America is a bit more skeptical, however, and said a “fairly steep” ramp is needed for the company to hit its fiscal 2026 target. Not only that, BofA analysts said it will take a “fairly aggressive” ramp in the second half of the year for the company to reach its fiscal 2025 outlook of double-digit growth.

“While Oracle is showing signs of higher growth with its SaaS applications and Cloud Infrastructure through the Generation 2 release, the cloud transition is taking longer than expected to impact the numbers and is more than offset with larger legacy and low growth revenue segments, such as on-premise license, hardware, and more,” the firm said in a Monday note.

— Sean Conlon

The Russell 2000 took a leg down Tuesday, extending September’s rout.

The small cap-focused index lost 0.8% in the session. Meanwhile, the broad S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.1%.

With that drop, the Russell 2000 has lost more than 6% since the trading month kicked off. The S&P 500, by comparison, has slid just around 3% during that period.

— Alex Harring

Here are the stocks on the move in midday trading:

• Ally Financial — Shares of the lender fell 17% after Ally Chief Financial Officer Russell Hutchinson said at an industry conference that credit challenges have increased during the third quarter, particularly with auto loans for retail customers.
• Mission Produce, Calavo Growers — Shares gained 20% after the avocado producer reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 24% for the fiscal third quarter. Mission Produce posted $324 million in sales, more than the $261.4 million posted in the year-ago period. Calavo Growers advanced around 12% after the rival producer reported adjusted earnings of 57 cents per share in its fiscal third quarter. That is more than the 43 cents per share that analysts were expecting, according to FactSet. Calavo Growers also doubled its quarterly dividend to 20 cents per share.
• Oracle — Shares of the database software company surged more than 11% after a fiscal first-quarter beat on the top and bottom lines. Oracle notched an adjusted $1.39 per share on $13.31 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $1.32 in earnings per share and $13.23 billion in revenue. Oracle also announced plans to bring its database services to Amazon Web Services as part of a strategic partnership.

Read the full list here.

— Sean Conlon

The stock market kicked off September with a tough trading week, but equities clawed back some of their losses during Monday’s session.

While investors may be eager to keep Monday’s rally going, it is more likely that stocks trade range-bound until the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting, according to BTIG.

“Bulls really want to reclaim the 5500-5520 level tomorrow and hold above it post Wednesday’s CPI,” wrote chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky. “At this point, however, our base case is that the tactical lows are in, and we make an attempt at new highs into the FOMC on Sep. 18th. Losing Friday’s low (5402) would negate that, and suggest a downside continuation possibly towards the 5150-5200 level. That’s the less likely scenario though, in our view.”

— Lisa Kailai Han

Shares of Ally Financial sank 15% after Chief Financial Officer Russell Hutchinson said the company was seeing credit issues in the third quarter.

According to a FactSet summary of the remarks, the executive said credit challenges “intensified” in July and August, with retail auto loans a particular area of stress.

The commentary from Ally could raise red flags about the broader consumer sector, but there is a chance this is an isolated issue, KBW analyst Sanjay Sakhrani said in a note to clients.

“Clearly the guide was disappointing and begs the question if this is ALLY-specific or a canary in the coal mine. ALLY spoke to July and August being weaker on delinquencies and, encouragingly, the monthly data we’re seeing from the card issuers do not suggest that it is a broad-based issue,” Sakhrani said.

— Jesse Pound

Bank stocks were under pressure on Tuesday as executives offered cautious commentary at a Barclays industry conference. JPMorgan Chase was one of the names effected, falling 5% in morning trading.

JPMorgan Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pinto said net interest income expectations for 2025 were “too high” and will likely come down, according to a FactSet summary of the remarks.

Pinto did say that JPMorgan’s investment banking division has had a solid third quarter, according to the summary.

— Jesse Pound

The broad market index again opened in the green on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 added 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 63 points, or about 0.15%.

— Pia Singh

Sentiment among small business owners worsened in August, pressured by worries over profits, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its monthly Small Business Optimism Index dropped to 91.2, a decrease of 2.5 points and the 32nd straight month that it held below its long-term average of 98. The Dow Jones consensus forecast was for 93.5.

A big contributor to the decline was a net minus-37% reading regarding profit trends, the worst for the indicator since March 2010. Business owners continued to list inflation as their biggest worry, though a net 33% reported raising compensation, the lowest since April 2021.

— Jeff Cox

Apple shares fell more than 1% in the premarket as investors continued to digest the company’s unveiling of new iPhones.

The company announced on Monday the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. The new devices are equipped with artificial intelligence features, among others.

— Fred Imbert

European stocks were mixed on Tuesday, following a more positive session at the start of the week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.22% in early deals, as major bourses and sectors diverged. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.37% after closing 1.09% higher in the previous session. France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX were up 0.47% and 0.11%, respectively.

Tech stocks added 0.86% while health care fell 0.93%, dragged lower by AstraZeneca. The British pharmaceutical giant fell to bottom of the FTSE 100, down 5.1%, after it announced disappointing lung cancer drug trial results.

— Karen Gilchrist

Shares of cloud applications and platform company Oracle added about 9% after beating fiscal first-quarter estimates on the top and bottom lines.

Oracle posted adjusted earnings of $1.39 per share on $13.31 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG forecast earnings of $1.32 per share and revenue of $13.23 billion. The company also announced a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services.

— Brian Evans

Stock futures opened higher on Monday after the S&P 500 notched its first winning session of the month after a rocky start to September.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 added 0.19%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.22%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked up 24 points, or 0.06%.

— Brian Evans