Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq recover as China hits back on tariffs, traders assess new jobs data - chof 360 news

Oil pared losses after sliding as much as 3% following China's announcement of retaliatory tariffs on some US imports, including oil and liquified natural gas.

West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) recovered to trade near $72.80 per barrel while Brent (BZ=F), the international benchmark price also cut losses of more than 2% to trade around $76 per barrel.

Earlier in the session crude reacted to China's announcement that starting next Monday, it would impose levies of 15% on US imported coal and liquified natural gas (LNG), and 10% for crude oil.

This came in retaliation to the Trump administration's implementation of additional 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports on Tuesday. On Monday President Trump paused tariffs against Mexican and Canadian imports, which would've included oil.

Job openings declined more than expected in December as investors continue to watch closely for any signs of cooling in the labor market.

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday showed there were 7.6 million jobs open at the end of December, a decrease from from the 8.15 million seen in November.

The November figure was revised higher from the 8.01 million open jobs initially reported. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected Tuesday's report to show eight million openings in November.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed 5.46 million hires were made during the month, down from the 5.37 million made during November. The hiring rate was flat at 3.4% for the third-straight month. Also in Tuesday's report, the quits rate, a sign of confidence among workers, was 2% in December, unchanged from the month prior.

US stocks opened mixed on Tuesday as investors continued to assess back-and-forth tariff developments, with China responding to President Trump's 10% tariffs with its own duties on US goods.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) edged down roughly 0.1%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) opened just around the flatline. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose about 0.2% on the heels of a losing day for stocks.

Overall, I'm not liking these earnings from PepsiCo.

The food giant's 2025 sales and EPS guidance were relatively in line with consensus. The Street may have some concern about the company hitting those targets, judging by how the fourth quarter played out. Pressure was on the top and bottom lines in the company's two most important segments: Frito Lay and North America beverages.

PepsiCo continues to see heightened competition in its categories and low-income consumers spending cautiously, given years of price increases.

Its shares are off by 2.5% in the pre-market.

I am talking to PepsiCo (PEP) chair and CEO Ramon Laguarta ahead of his earnings call today at around 7:45 a.m. ET, so I will jump back in here with more insights.

Want to be amused by an earnings call? Listen to Palantir (PLTR) CEO Alex Karp on his quarterly calls.

The guy is a real hoot (and just an interesting character in tech more broadly).

I think Karp gave the type of earnings call we will begin to hear from this new crop of tech players during the Trump administration. Antagonistic. Hype filled. Boastful. But he also has the numbers to back up the smoke-blowing, in part because of 1) a strong enterprise-tech spending cycle; 2) optimism on critical infrastructure spending by Trump.

The company beat analysts' sales estimates by an impressive $59 million.

"We believe Palantir is the best story in all of software," said DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria in a note this morning.

Shares are up 18% pre-market. The ticker page is the most active on the chof360 Finance platform.