Global stock markets diverge as investors eye earnings and tariffs

Global stocks diverged on Tuesday as traders awaited earnings from big US companies and European markets fretted over an August I deadline for the EU to avert steep tariffs from President Donald Trump.

- 

Wall Street's Dow and S&P 500 indices rose amid of a series of profit reports from General Motors, Tesla and others that promise clues to the impact of tariffs so far, following a record S&P finish Monday.

European markets declined, as the August I date looms.

“European markets have been getting increasingly jittery as the deadline approaches,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation. “With little sign of progress so far, investors are preparing for possible tariff retaliation from the EU.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said meanwhile he would meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for tariff talks, as a separate mid-August deadline approaches for levies on China to snap back to steeper levels.

Closely-watched earnings loomed from some of the world’s biggest names, including Tesla, Google parent Alphabet, Intel and Coca-Cola.

US auto giant General Motors reported a 35-percent plunge in second-quarter profits Tuesday following a $I.I-billion hit from US tariffs, but confirmed its full-year forecast. Its shares fell more than three per cent in early trading.

Elsewhere, “expectations for the earnings season include accelerated profit growth for major US technology companies in the second half of the year,” said Jochen Stanzl, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.