Wall Street sets a record while the US dollar's value slides again

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street ticked to a record on Tuesday, as stocks zigzagged following mixed profit reports from UnitedHealth, General Motors and other big companies.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and edged past its prior all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 408 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9% as the stock market cleaved between winners and losers.

The swings were even bigger in foreign-currency markets, where the U.S. dollar’s value slid against its peers again. Shortly after U.S. stocks finished Tuesday’s trading, the dollar was down more than 1% against the euro, the Japanese yen and the Australian dollar, among others. An index measuring the U.S. dollar’s strength against several of its competitors dropped to its lowest point since 2022.

The slide continues a sharp drop for the U.S. dollar since President Donald Trump threatened tariffs against several European countries that he said opposed his taking control of Greenland. Such threats, along with worries about risks like the U.S. government’s heavy debt, have periodically pushed global investors to step back from U.S. markets, a move that’s come to be called “Sell America.”

On Wall Street, Corning helped lead the market higher and climbed 15.6% after announcing a deal with Meta Platforms worth up to $6 billion. Corning will supply optical fiber and cable to help build out data centers for Meta, enough that Corning is expanding its optical-fiber manufacturing facility in Hickory, North Carolina.

Also supporting the U.S. stock market were gains for General Motors, which rose 8.7%, and hospital-operator HCA Healthcare, which rallied 7.1%. Both delivered profits for the end of 2025 that topped Wall Street’s expectations. Each also approved programs to send billions of dollars to their investors by buying back their own stock.

They helped offset a tumble for UnitedHealth Group, which sank 19.6% despite reporting a profit for the latest quarter that was a bit better than analysts expected. More attention was on the company’s forecast for revenue in the upcoming year, which fell short of Wall Street’s expectations and could be weaker than it was in 2025.

Health care stocks also felt tremendous pressure from a projected rate increase for Medicare Advantage by the U.S. government, which fell well short of what investors had hoped. Humana skidded by 21.1%, Elevance Health dropped 14.3% and CVS Health sank 14.2%.

Profit reports elsewhere on Wall Street were mixed. UPS added 0.2% after reporting a stronger profit and forecasting better revenue for 2026 than analysts expected, while announcing the elimination of 30,000 jobs. American Airlines lost 7% after delivering a profit for the end of 2025 that fell well short of analysts’ expectations.

The pressure is on companies to deliver strong growth in profits following record-setting runs for their stock prices. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and earnings need to rise to quiet criticism that stock prices have grown too expensive.

Several of Wall Street’s most influential stocks will deliver their latest earnings reports later this week. They include Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday.

Several of those Big Tech stocks were among the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 Tuesday, including gains of 2.2% for Microsoft and 1.1% for Apple.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 28.37 points to 6,978.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 408.99 to 49,003.41, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 215.74 to 23,817.10.

Another way stock prices can look less expensive to investors is if interest rates fall. The Federal Reserve will announce its next move on interest rates Wednesday, but the widespread expectation is that it will hold its main interest rate steady for now.

Inflation remains stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target, and lower interest rates could worsen increases in prices for U.S. consumers at the same time that they give the economy a boost. Traders expect the Fed to resume its cuts to interest rates later this year.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively steady ahead of the Fed’s decision. The yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked up to 4.24% from 4.22% late Monday.

It had edged lower earlier in the day, after a report from the Conference Board said confidence weakened among U.S. consumers last month. Economists had expected to see a slight improvement, but confidence dropped to its lowest level since 2014, even lower than it was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

India’s Sensex index added 0.4% after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country had reached agreement on a free trade deal with the European Union.

The accord, which touches 2 billion people, followed nearly two decades of negotiations. It’s one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce. The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.7%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied 1.4% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Traders Robert Finnerty Jr., foreground, and Michael Milano work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Michael Pistillo works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has notified Congress that it is taking the first steps to possibly reopen the shuttered U.S. Embassy in Venezuela as it explores restoring relations with the South American country following the U.S. military raid that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

In a notice to lawmakers dated Monday and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the State Department said it was sending in a regular and growing contingent of temporary staffers to conduct “select” diplomatic functions.

“We are writing to notify the committee of the Department of State’s intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume Embassy Caracas operations,” the department said in separate but identical letters to 10 House and Senate committees.

The notification, sent to Capitol Hill just two days before Secretary of State Marco Rubio i s due to testify on Venezuela before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the staffers would live and work in a temporary facility while the existing embassy compound is brought up to standard.

It is the first formal notice of the administration’s intent to re-open the embassy in Caracas. Such a move would be key to the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been broken since March 2019 when the embassy was shuttered.

The Trump administration has moved slowly but surely to try to normalize ties with Maduro's successor and current acting President Delcy Rodriguez. However, doing so would require the U.S. to revoke its decision to recognize the Venezuelan parliament elected in 2015 as the legitimate government.

Shortly after the military operation that deposed Maduro on Jan. 3, a small team from the Venezuela Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, traveled to Caracas to do an initial survey and appraise the prospects for re-opening the embassy.

Last week, the department named a Bogota-based career U.S. diplomat to serve as the charge d’affaires for Venezuela. In its notification, the department said the first phase would be the expanded deployment of temporary staff to Caracas.

“To support increased temporary duty personnel and the potential resumption of embassy operations, the Department of State may also need to open an interim or temporary facility in Caracas, Venezuela, to accommodate temporary duty personnel or operations while the existing facilities are brought to serviceable condition,” it said.

These diplomats would perform limited “select duties,” including security and management in the first phase, but gradually expand their work “to include consular, political, economic, management, security, and public diplomacy.” In addition, the Venezuela Affairs Unit now located in Bogota would move to Caracas.

Asked about the notice, the State Department replied that it is "is taking steps to prepare for the potential reopening of the embassy in Caracas should that decision be made. The congressional notification is part of that process to allow for those preparations to take place.”

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after the signing of a Board of Peace charter during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)