Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq slip as emerging doubts threaten rally

US stocks fell on Tuesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the declines as investors reassessed the recent market rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) traded below the flatline while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped roughly 0.3% on the heels of a sixth straight day of gains for the benchmark index. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) backed off around 0.4%, leading the way to the downside.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) gained 2% to trade above the $104,000 level as a crypto industry push for stablecoin legislation cleared a key hurdle on Monday night.

Cryptocurrencies rose broadly after a bill to regulate stablecoins passed a procedural vote in the Senate. The bill still faces some opposition as it advances to the next stage, in which senators will have the option to offer amendments.

Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schonberger reports that the legislation that advanced in the Senate Monday night holds stablecoin issuers to strict reserve requirements, requiring them to maintain one-to-one reserves in cash and cash equivalents. It also bans unbacked, algorithmic stablecoins.

Meanwhile, crypto became even more enmeshed in the global financial system after Coinbase (COIN), $60 billion crypto exchange, joined the S&P 500 (^GSPC) yesterday. In today's Morning Brief, Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban details how the move signals a growing sense of legitimacy and security around crypto amid a shaky year for traditional assets. You can read more about that here.

Coinbase stock rose 1% in premarket trading.

After Walmart (WMT) got blasted by President Trump on Saturday for saying it would raise prices because of tariffs, Home Depot (HD) is spinning a different narrative.

Shocker, I know.

Home Depot's CFO Richard McPhail said on a competing news outfit that the company will not be raising prices due to tariffs.

I don't buy it at all. If Walmart — the world's largest retailer is raising prices because of tariffs (as its CFO John David Rainey told me last week) — you best believe price hikes are coming to some departments of Home Depot this spring and summer. And with it, some negative hit to sales.

I followed up with a Home Depot spokesperson on this one by email. I asked them point blank how they can possibly hold prices against the backdrop of tariffs.

Here is their response:

Shares in UnitedHealth were set to build on the previous session's rebound, up 2% in premarket trading even as the company continues to grapply with an abrupt leadership change and a report of a criminal fraud probe.

The health insurer's stock jumped over 8% on Monday after an SEC filing showed its returning CEO Stephen Hemsley and other company insiders bought a chunk of shares. UnitedHealth's stock slumped to a five-year low last week amid the negative headlines.

Home Depot (HD) stock popped over 2% after the home improvement retailer reported earnings and reaffirmed financial guidance for 2025.

Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma reports:

Read more here.

Is it time to "Sell America"? Wall Street strategists are offering up more fuel for the debate, as investors gauge the economic drag of tariffs and inflation on the economy.

Some strategists are betting that stocks in Europe will outperform their US counterparts this year by the most in at least two decades, Bloomberg reports:

Read more here.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.'s stock (3750.HK) jumped 14% on its Hong Kong trading debut, in the world's biggest listing of 2025.

Shares in the Chinese battery giant — a key supplier to Tesla (TSLA) — closed at $306.20 apiece, compared with the subscription price of $236. CATL raised $4.6 billion in its offering in the face of a Pentagon blacklisting and trade tensions.

Bloomberg reports:

Read more here.