LIVE MARKETS-Stocks heat up amid polar vortex, tariff jitters ease

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STOCKS HEAT UP AMID POLAR VORTEX, TARIFF JITTERS EASE

Investors were in a buying mood as they sailed into the unknowns of a second Trump presidency on Tuesday.

All three major U.S. stock indexes started the session with tentative gains and spent much of the day gathering steam the day after Trump was sworn in for a second term and signed a spate of executive orders.

None of which contained the word "tariff," much to the market's relief.

That relief was particularly acute for automakers, who have more exposure to tariff risks than many other sectors. Shares of Ford F.N and General Motors GM.N rose 2.5% and 5.7%, respectively.

Utilities .SPLRCU advanced 1.6% as an arctic vortex sent mercury plunging across nearly all of the contiguous states.

Industrials .SPLRCI, airlines .SPCOMAIR and smallcaps .RUT were enjoying robust gains.

Chips .SOX rose 1.3% in advance of Trump's expected announcement of a $500 billion private sector AI infrastructure investment.

Meanwhile, energy stocks .SPNY were the sole losers among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, dipping in tandem with oil prices CLc1, which slid after Trump declared a national energy emergency, raising concerns of increased output in an oversupplied market.

Fourth quarter earnings season is in the early going, with 42 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 81% beat EPS estimates, according to LSEG data.

Analysts now expect aggregate S&P 500 year-on-year earnings growth of 10.7%, an improvement over the 9.6% annual growth predicted as of Jan. 1, per LSEG.

Here's your closing snapshot:

(Stephen Culp)

FOR TUESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

POST-ELECTION HONEYMOON IS OVER, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THERE STILL WON'T BE SOME ROMANCE - CLICK HERE

THE KEY TO 2025 WILL BE ABOUT CORRECTLY GAUGING THE INFLATION OUTLOOK - CLICK HERE

TRUMP PART TWO: DAY ONE - CLICK HERE

WALL STREET KICKS OFF TRUMP 2.0 WITH EARLY GAINS - CLICK HERE

BENCHMARK TREASURY YIELD SETBACK HELPING TO STOKE STOCKS - CLICK HERE

RATES RISKS: CAUTION ON UTILITIES AND SMALL CAPS - CLICK HERE

GOLDMAN SACHS VIEWS TRUMP'S INITIAL TARIFF RHETORIC AS RATHER GENTLE - CLICK HERE

LUXURY BACK IN FASHION, WITH THREE FACTORS TO CONSIDER - CLICK HERE

WELCOME TO TRUMP 2.0 - EUROPEAN AUTOS, RENEWABLES AND STEELMAKERS SLIDE - CLICK HERE

BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPE HEADS SOUTH, WIND STOCKS EYED - CLICK HERE

TRUMP'S BACK, SO IS VOLATILITY - CLICK HERE