Wall Street today: US stocks mixed as focus shifts to Trump’s proposed trade tariff plans on Mexico and Canada

US stocks showed a mixed performance on Tuesday as attention turned to President-elect Donald Trump's proposed trade tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

At 9:42 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 197.32 points (0.44 per cent) to 44,539.25. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 11.76 points (0.20 per cent) to 5,999.13, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 81.01 points (0.43 per cent) to 19,135.84.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 121.7 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 44,614.89. The S&P 500 rose 12.7 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 6,000.03, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 54.2 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 19,109.082.

Trump said he plans to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office.

Investors were awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve's November monetary policy meeting.

Among the megacap stocks, Nvidia gained 1.3 per cent, and Amazon added 1.7 per cent.

Shares of General Motors sank 5.5 per cent, and Ford Motor lost 2.3 per cent.

Kohl’s stock tumbled 19.7 per cent after its quarter results fell short of analysts’ expectations. Amgen stock lost 11.5 per cent after the drugmaker’s experimental obesity drug fell short of expectations.

Eli Lilly rose 3.7 per cent after President Joe Biden was set to propose expanding Medicare and Medicaid coverage for anti-obesity drugs.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.29 per cent from 4.28 per cent late on Monday.

Bullion

Gold prices edged up on Tuesday amid easing safe-haven demand for the metal on optimism about a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Spot gold was up 0.3 per cent to $2,633.99 per ounce as of 1217 GMT. US gold futures were up 0.6 per cent to $2,634.10.

Spot silver rose 0.8 per cent to $30.54 per ounce.

Crude oil

Oil prices rose on Tuesday after the previous session's sell-off.

Brent crude futures were up 43 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $73.44 a barrel as of 1414 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $69.38 a barrel, up 44 cents, or 0.6 per cent.