Stock market today: Wall Street quietly mixed in premarket ahead of economic data, tariff deadline

Trading on Wall Street was mixed early Wednesday ahead of key U.S. economic data being released later in the week, as well as developments in President Donald Trump’s trade agenda.

Futures for the S&P 500 were flat before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1%. Nasdaq futures fell 0.1%.

Shares of Dollar Tree jumped 5% after the discount retailer announced the sale its Family Dollar business to a pair of private equity firms for $1 billion. Dollar Tree, which acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion in 2015, struggled to make the business fit.

The company had been scouting options for Family Dollar for a while and said that the sale to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management will allow it to focus on its core business.

Online pet store Chewy rose 5.1% after it beat Wall Street's fourth quarter sales and profit targets and issued strong 2025 sales guidance based on momentum that executives expect to carry over into this year.

U.S. stocks have recovered a chunk of their losses since falling 10% below their all-time high earlier this month, the first market correction since 2023. The S&P 500 is down 6% from its record, meaning many stocks appear less expensive, which had been a major criticism following what many saw as a euphoric and unwarranted rise in markets.

But Wall Street analysts warn that more sharp swings are likely ahead of next week's tariff deadline. That’s what Trump has called “Liberation Day,” when he will begin tariffs on trading partners that he says will roughly equal what he sees as the burden each of them puts on the United States.

Trump's on-again-off-again tariff threats have already soured confidence among U.S. households and businesses. The fear is that both could dial back spending and slow economic growth.

Like other recent surveys, Tuesday's consumer confidence data showed U.S. households are much more concerned about where the economy is heading than where it is currently. So far, actual economic activity and the job market seem to be holding up despite the worsening moods of consumers and U.S. companies, particularly retailers.

More potentially market-moving data will be released later this week, with the government's final fourth-quarter GDP estimate and weekly unemployment benefits report coming Thursday and February consumer spending figures due Friday. The consumer spending report also contains an inflation measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve.

In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX lost 0.6%, as did the CAC 40 in Paris. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.2% higher.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6% to 23,483.32, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped less than 0.1%, to 3,368.70.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index added 0.7% to 38,027.29.

The Kospi in Seoul was up 1.1% at 2,643.94. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 7,999.00.

Later this week, the U.S. is due to report on economic growth, personal spending, inflation and other key data.

A person walks in front of the Tokyo Stock Exchange building Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is hanging near its records on Tuesday following a mixed start to the latest profit reporting season for big U.S. companies. An update on inflation is meanwhile offering little momentum, either upward or downward, after coming in close to expectations.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses during the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 287 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. Both the S&P 500 and Dow are coming off all-time highs.

U.S. companies are under pressure to deliver strong growth in profits for the last three months of 2025 to justify the record-breaking runs for their stock prices. Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to deliver overall earnings per share that are 8.3% higher than a year earlier, according to FactSet.

JPMorgan Chase helped kick off the latest reporting season by delivering weaker profit and revenue than analysts expected. Its stock fell 3.1% and was one of the heaviest weights on the market, but the shortfall may have been partly because some analysts hadn't updated their estimates to account for the earnings hit taken due to the bank's purchase of the Apple Card credit card portfolio.

CEO Jamie Dimon sounded relatively optimistic about the U.S. economy, saying “consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy.”

Delta Air Lines lost 3.2% despite reporting a stronger profit for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. Its revenue came up short of Wall Street’s expectations, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for profit in 2026.

Chipotle Mexican Grill fell 3% after saying it's looking for a new chief marketing officer, a move that analysts said was a surprise.

On the winning side of Wall Street were several health care companies after they raised their financial forecasts at an industry conference with analysts.

Moderna jumped 12.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after saying it expects to report revenue for 2025 that's above the midpoint of the range it had forecast in November. It also offered updates on several products, including a seasonal flu vaccine that could see potential approvals beginning later this year.

Revvity rose 4.6% after life sciences company said it expects to report profit for 2025 that's above the top end of the forecasted range it had earlier given. Its forecast for revenue in the fourth quarter also topped analysts' expectations.

Outside of health care, L3Harris Technologies rose 2.2% after the defense company said it’s planning to break off its Missile Solutions business into a separate company through an initial public offering. As part of the plan, the U.S. government agreed to invest $1 billion in the business, which will convert into common stock in the IPO.

L3 Harris will keep a controlling interest in the Missile Solutions business following the IPO.

In the bond market, yields held relatively steady after Tuesday's inflation report strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve may be able to cut its main interest rate at least twice in 2026 to shore up the job market.

Lower interest rates could make borrowing cheaper for U.S. households and boost prices for investments, but they could also worsen inflation at the same time. Tuesday’s report showed that U.S. consumers paid prices last month for gasoline, food and other costs of living that were 2.7% higher overall than a year earlier. That’s a touch worse than economists expected and above the Fed’s 2% target for inflation.

But, more encouragingly, an important underlying trend of inflation wasn’t as bad last month as economists expected. That could give the Fed more leeway to lower interest rates later.

“We’ve seen this movie before—inflation isn’t reheating, but it remains above target,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The data helped the 10-year Treasury ease to 4.18% from 4.19% late Monday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, inched down to 3.53% from 3.54%.

A day earlier, Treasury yields swung amid worries about the Federal Reserve's worsening feud with President Donald Trump. The concern is that the president's attacks on the Fed could result in a central bank that's less independent and more subservient to the White House. Experts say that in turn could lead to higher inflation over the long term.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 soared 3.1% for one of the world’s biggest moves and set a record, thanks in part to gains for technology-related stocks.

Investors expect Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October, to try to capitalize on her relatively high popularity to call a snap election, hoping to strengthen her mandate for higher government spending.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

Trader Robert Finnerty Jr., foreground, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Sal Suarino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (Kyodo News via AP)