Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq hold steady as US-Canada trade tensions heat up

Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq hold steady as US-Canada trade tensions heat up

Grace O'Donnell · Editor, Special Projects

Updated Tue, August 25, 2026 at 6:24 PM GMT+3 2 min read

US stocks gained on Tuesday as investors brushed aside worries about new trade measures against Canada, even as Canada announced new retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Markets also continued to weigh looming Nvidia (NVDA) earnings and predictions for Kevin Warsh's first Jackson Hole speech as Fed chair.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose by 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) advanced by 0.4%, recovering from Monday's tech declines.

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Stocks held on to gains as a trade spat between the US and Canada escalated, with Canada's Finance Department announcing retaliatory tariffs to counter the 50% duties imposed by the Trump administration over the weekend. Notably, as the US and Canada have ratcheted up their rhetoric, they have left oil off the table for now, even as they raise tariffs on steel, dairy, and other products.

The price of bitcoin (BTC-USD), meanwhile, briefly surged above $80,000 for the first time in three months after the Treasury's intervention in the bond market revived concerns about dollar debasement, sending investors to alternative assets. Gold (GC=F), too, has rallied in recent days but took a breather on Tuesday.

The latest economic data releases showed that both new home sales and a measure of consumer confidence fell to their lowest levels since January as cost-of-living pressures weighed on consumers. The data sets the stage for the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Symposium later this week, where Fed Chairman Warsh will deliver a speech.

Intuit (INTU) and Zoom Communications (ZM) will deliver key reads on the software sector when they report earnings on Tuesday, and DICK's Sporting Goods (DKS) stock sank 13% before the bell after the retailer missed second quarter expectations and cut its full-year outlook due to challenging conditions in the athletic marketplace.