US STOCKS-Wall St is mixed as investors monitor Trump's latest tariff moves

By Sinéad Carew, Pranav Kashyap

July 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq struggled for direction on Tuesday, as anxiety over President Donald Trump's comments on tariffs overshadowed earlier investor hopes that ongoing discussions might provide some clarity on U.S. trade policies.

Wall Street equities had sold off on Monday after Trump warned of sweeping new tariffs on goods from key trading partners such as Japan and South Korea and a range of smaller countries starting in August.

While stocks steadied on Tuesday, there was no real sign of a rebound as investors were still digesting tariff news.

Trump broadened his global trade war on Tuesday as he announced a 50% tariff on imported copper and said long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were coming soon.

"There's still a lot of uncertainty about how the tariff story is going to play out. There are too many moving parts here," said John Praveen, managing director at Paleo Leon in Princeton, New Jersey, noting that investors hate uncertainty.

At 2:10 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 117.11 points, or 0.26%, to 44,289.25, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.46 points, or 0.06%, to 6,233.66 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 43.98 points, or 0.21%, to 20,455.71.

Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry groups, only five were showing any gains. The energy index .SPNY was the biggest gainer, up 2.87%, while the more defensive utilities index .SPLRCU dropped 1.07%.

However, while investors were cautious about the bigger indexes, the Russell 2000 small-cap index .RUT was outperforming with a gain of about 1%.

In mega-cap stocks, shares of Tesla TSLA.O gained close to 3% after the stock recorded its steepest single-day fall in roughly a month on Monday.

The S&P 500's biggest gainer was Moderna Inc MRNA.O up more than 9% after leading medical organizations filed a lawsuit against U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that current COVID-19 vaccine policies pose a threat to public health.

The market's cautious mood contrasted with the wild volatility that was unleashed after Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, which pushed the Nasdaq down sharply to confirm a bear market and sent the Dow and the S&P 500 into a correction.

Since then, Wall Street has rebounded to regain lost ground, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 powering to fresh record highs last week, as a solid labor market report helped ease fears of a recession.

BofA Global Research and Goldman Sachs raised their year-end targets for the S&P 500 index .SPX, broadly driven by reduced policy uncertainty, resilient corporate earnings and potential interest rate cuts.

Minutes of the Fed's June rate-setting meeting are scheduled for release on Wednesday, potentially providing more clarity on when the central bank might resume its policy-easing cycle.

Shares of solar stocks fell after Trump on Monday directed federal agencies to strengthen provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that repeal or modify tax credits for solar and wind energy projects.

SunRun RUN.O dropped about 10% while Enphase Energy ENPH.O and SolarEdge Technologies SEDG.O fell more than 3%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.64-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 126 new highs and 20 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 2,941 stocks rose and 1,497 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.96-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 44 new lows.