Stock market live Tuesday: Dow cuts gain by half, Big Tech sells off, oil highest since March

Brokerage firms TD Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers both beat expectations on the top and bottom lines for their quarterly earnings, though there shares fell slightly in extended trading. Both reported a surge of trading activity during the quarter.

Elsewhere, shares of Texas Instruments rose 1% after hours following a second quarter that topped Wall Street estimates and better-than-expected guidance. — Jesse Pound

• Advancing stocks outpaced declining stocks 2,288 to 713 on the NYSE or more than three to one
• Dow closed up 0.6% for its second straight positive day with Chevron and Boeing having the most positive point impact
• Dow is down 5.95% year to date
• Dow is 9.23% below its intraday all-time high of 29,568.57 from Feb. 12
• S&P 500 closed up 0.17% for its third straight positive day and its fifth positive day in six
• S&P 500 is up 0.82% year to date
• S&P 500 is 4.01% below its intraday all-time high of 3,393.52 from Feb. 19
• Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.81% for its first negative day in three after hitting a new intraday all-time high of 10,839.93, failing to close at a new record
• Nasdaq is up 19.03% year to date
• Seven out of 11 sectors were positive Tuesday led by energy, which gained 6.15% for its best day since June 5. — Gina Francolla

Shares of United Airlines dipped in extended trading after the company reported a net loss of $1.62 billion for the second quarter. The coronavirus pandemic's impact on travel fueled an 87% year-over-year revenue decline for the Chicago-based airline. — Jesse Pound

Shares of Snap dropped more than 9% in extended trading after the social media company reported fewer than expected daily active users. The company reported a loss of 9 cents per share, in line with expectations, and $454 million of revenue, which was $15 million more than analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected. Daily active users came in below expectations at 238 million. — Jesse Pound

The market cut gains in the final hour of trading as the sell-off in technology shares deepened. The Dow finished Tuesday's session about 150 points higher, after rising more than 300 points at its high of the day. The S&P 500 closed near the flat line, erasing a 0.7% gain earlier in the day. The Nasdaq Composite underperformed, losing 0.8%, as Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft all fell at least 1%. — Yun Li

Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, said investors worried about a drop similar to that of the dotcom bubble bursting should watch the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX). In a note, Colas looked at the trading action on the VIX back then and now. Given these similarities, the VIX will "tell us if we're in another speculative bubble," he said. —Fred Imbert

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

Traders should be cautious around the major tech stocks because they could experience a "sell the news" event when reporting earnings, said Jonathan Krinsky of Bay Crest Partners. "A lot of these mega-cap names are very stretched relative to their long-term moving averages as they come into earnings," Krinsky, the firm's chief market technician, told CNBC's "Halftime Report." 

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Fred Imbert

The Nasdaq Composite was the lone decliner among the major indexes as shares of Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft were under pressure. The tech-heavy index dipped 0.1%. The Dow and S&P 500, meanwhile, rose 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively. —Fred Imbert

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, closed at its highest level since March on Tuesday as the EU stimulus plan as well as hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine bolstered prices. WTI gained $1.15, or 2.82%, to settle at $41.96, while international benchmark Brent crude settled 2.4% higher at $44.32 per barrel. However, WTI is still more than 30% lower year to date. - Pippa Stevens 

The Senate Banking Committee approved controversial Federal Reserve nominee Judy Shelton as well as Christopher Waller for two open positions on the central bank's board of governors. The fate of the nominees now rests with the full Senate for final confirmation. Though President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate the two in July 2019, the global pandemic and Shelton's unorthodox monetary views delayed their appointment.

Shelton was only approved by the committee by a 13-12 margin along party lines and continues to face scrutiny. She faces intense criticism for her support of the gold standard, her belief over whether bank deposits should be insured and whether the Fed should be insulated from political pressure. — Thomas Franck, Jeff Cox

Data from scheduling firm Homebase shows that the jobs recovery has stalled and even gone backward in recent weeks in some of the states hardest hit by the recent surge in coronavirus cases. Texas, Florida and Arizona were three of six states that saw the seven day average of employees going to work decline by at least 5% between June 14 and July 19, according to analysis by CNBC. — Jesse Pound

More Americans wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus would be good news for the stock market, "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer said. The current strength in the equity market is found in technology-related stocks, Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street" while sectors sensitive to Covid-19 spread such as travel remain sluggish. 

"Let's give the cloud stocks their due, but a lot of other stocks could take off" as well if everyone wore masks and helped to bring virus transmission down," said Cramer, who also complimented companies such as Walmart and Kroger for their new mandatory mask policies. - Kevin Stankiewicz 

The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement saying it plans to issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking "in the near future" for the Boeing 737 Max. CNBC's Phil LeBeau reports that the remaining steps laid out in the statement point to a fourth-quarter return for the grounded jetliner, which would be later than Boeing has been targeting. Shares of Boeing were trading off their session highs but have still gained 3.5% on Tuesday. — Jesse Pound

Coca-Cola — Coca-Cola gained 2.5% after the soda maker signaled the worst of the pandemic impact is over. The company said it expects demand to improve after states eased quarantine and lockdown measures.

Devon Energy — Shares of Devon Energy jumped more than 12% after Simmons Energy upgraded the independent oil and natural gas company to an overweight rating. A jump in oil prices on Tuesday also lifted other names in the sector. Occidental, Apache and Halliburton all gained more than 10%, while Exxon and Chevron each traded 6% higher.

Tapestry — Shares of Tapestry jumped 3.5% after Jide Zeitlin resigned as the luxury retailer's chairman and CEO after the company opened a probe into his personal behavior. The company also said its fiscal fourth-quarter results have exceeded internal expectations.

Check out more companies making headlines in midday trading. — Yun Li, Maggie Fitzgerald

The Dow and S&P 500 traded higher by 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively, while the Nasdaq slid 0.6% as traders booked profits from the major tech names and added exposure to beaten-down value names. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft and Apple were all lower by at least 0.8%. —Fred Imbert

Stock prices rose Tuesday, but investors also loaded up on assets which are traditionally seen as safe havens. The Swiss franc rose to its highest level against the greenback since March, trading around 0.936 per U.S. dollar. Gold futures surged more than 1% and hit their highest level since Sept. 14, 2011. Silver prices also traded at levels not seen in six years. —Fred Imbert

Energy stocks jumped more than 5% on Tuesday — on the heels of rising oil prices — making the group the top-performing S&P 500 sector by a wide margin.

West Texas Intermediate gained more than 4% to trade at $42.51 per barrel, its highest level since early March. The benchmark has now erased its losses from the price war that broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia in March, as well as from the unprecedented drop-off in demand due to the pandemic, both of which sent prices tumbling and triggered record production cuts around the globe. Natural gas prices also moved higher, with Henry Hub natural gas futures trading around $1.68 per million British thermal units.

Chevron announced on Monday that it would buy Noble Energy, which was the industry's first large-scale acquisition since the Covid-19 downturn began. "This could certainly ignite a wave of additional consolidation," said Enverus' Andrew Dittmar, while also acknowledging that uncertainty lingers.

Tuesday's gains were led by Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, Apache and Halliburton, all of which were up more than 10%. Meanwhile Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips each traded about 6% higher. — Pippa Stevens 

Tesla erased earlier gains and last traded more than 1% lower during Monday's session. The electric car maker will drop its highly anticipated second-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the bell, which could open the door for it to join the S&P 500. Shares of Tesla have exploded this year, up more than 290%, as its upbeat auto delivery and production numbers helped fuel investor enthusiasm.

"Tesla is garnering greater levels of enthusiasm from investors given its technological dominance vs. the established competition in the vast global transportation market," Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley equity analyst, said in a note Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Tesla surpassed Toyota to become the world's most valuable automaker for the first time. Its market cap relative to the U.S., Japanese and European equity auto sectors has also soared to more than 35% last month, according to Jim Reid, Deutsche Bank's head of fundamental credit strategy and thematic research. — Yun Li

_{Source: Deutsche Bank}

CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday that he has never seen anything like the big moves for large-cap tech companies that have pushed the Nasdaq to record highs, but he believes this situation is different than the tech bubble of the late 1990s. 

"Insanity does not mean it's over. Insanity just means can we please just stop comparing it to 1999? Because in 1999 a lot of really bad companies gained a lot of market cap. Here, a lot of unbelievably great companies are gaining market cap at a pace that you've got to give them a speeding ticket," Cramer said on "Squawk Box." — Jesse Pound

Despite persistent headline worries, chart analysis points to uptrends and suggest further equity upside through 2020 and into 2021, according to Fundstrat technical strategist Robert Sluymer. He highlighted that certain cyclical sectors including materials, industrials and financials appear to be establishing a bottom after their sell-off earlier this year and views stocks like Caterpillar, PPG Industries and Goldman Sachs as "timely long candidates."

"From a simple trend perspective, most equity markets remain in uptrends as a growing list are beginning to push to another higher high over the past week," Sluymer wrote in an email. "The bull cycle remains intact and we recommend a balanced portfolio of both growth and cyclical stocks underweighting staples and utilities." — Thomas Franck

The major U.S. stock indexes rallied at the start of the regular session Tuesday morning with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 200 points, about 0.75%. The S&P 500 advanced 0.6% while the Nasdaq Composite, which outperformed on Monday amid tech's strength, gained a similar 0.6%. Better-than-expected financial results from both IBM and Coca-Cola helped lead the blue-chip Dow higher at the opening bell. Those stocks rose 3.8% and 2.5%, respectively. — Thomas Franck

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he does not expect Congress to pass new coronavirus legislation by the end of July. If lawmakers fail to pass a plan by the end of this month, a $600-per-week federal unemployment insurance benefit will halt. Millions of Americans qualify for the benefit, which was introduced in March to buttress unemployment benefits amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Republicans wish to change or reduce the per-week sum, while Democrats hope to extend it with the U.S. unemployment rate above 11%.

"I envision that this bill doesn't get done by the end of July," McCarthy, a Republican from California, told CNBC. He added he expects Congress to approve legislation "probably in the first week of August." — Thomas Franck, Jacob Pramuk

Wells Fargo announced Tuesday morning that it will install a new chief financial officer this fall. The company said that Mike Santomassimo of Bank of New York Mellon will replace John Shrewsberry, who has been Wells' CFO for the past six years. The bank said that Shrewsberry, who was the bank's CFO before new Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf joined the company, is retiring. Wells Fargo shares gained 1% in premarket trading. — Jesse Pound

Professional networking site LinkedIn said Tuesday that it will cut 6% of its global workforce, or 960 jobs, as the coronavirus pandemic whacks demand for its recruitment products. Chief Executive Ryan Roslansky said in a statement that jobs will be cut in the company's sales and hiring divisions and that "these are the only layoffs we are planning." LinkedIn, a subsidiary of Microsoft, helps employers assess a job candidate's suitability for a role while workers use it to locate and apply for open positions. —Thomas Franck

• Evercore ISI added Twitter to the tactical outperform list.
• Deutsche Bank added a catalyst call buy on Foot Locker.
• Goldman Sachs initiated Albertsons as buy.
• Rosenblatt raised its price target on Facebook to $315 from $244.
• JMP downgraded Tesla to market perform from market outperform.
• Berenberg initiated SurveyMonkey as buy.

Pro Subscribers can read more here. — Michael Bloom

West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped 3% to hit a session high of $42.29 per barrel on Tuesday, the contract's highest level since March 6. International benchmark Brent crude reached $44.75 per barrel, also its highest level since March 6, as the EU recovery deal supported prices. Rystad Energy's Bjornar Tonhaugen also pointed to Monday's announcement from Chevron that it will buy Noble Energy as a sign of life within the industry. However, he noted that surging Covid-19 cases in the U.S. and a potential second wave of lockdowns capped gains to the upside. — Pippa Stevens 

Shares of electric car maker Tesla rose another 2.5% in premarket trading before the bell Tuesday morning as the stock's wild month continued. Tesla equity has charged higher in recent weeks after it reported in early July auto delivery and production numbers well ahead of Wall Street estimates. Investors believe those improving metrics will bode well for Tesla's second-quarter earnings, which are due Wednesday afternoon, and help catapult the stock into the S&P 500 index. The stock's eye-popping surge in recent months is difficult to overstate: Tesla is up 9.4% this week, 52% in July, 200% over the last six months and 536% over the last year. — Thomas Franck

The European Commission, the Union's executive arm, agreed to move forward with a 750 billion euro stimulus package aimed at helping countries and sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. European Council President Charles Michel said this deal will be seen as a "pivotal moment" for Europe. The news comes as U.S. lawmakers start to iron out another stimulus package for the country. — Fred Imbert

Beverage giant Coca-Cola reported quarterly earnings of 42 cents per share, a 33% drop year-over-year. The results came in 2 cents higher than Wall Street estimates, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in line with estimates at $7.18 billion. Coca-Cola said the company sees demand improving as global lockdowns ease. Shares of Coca-Cola ticked 1.3% higher in premarket trading on Tuesday. — Maggie Fitzgerald 

Amazon said Tuesday that it will delay Prime Day, which is the e-commerce giant's largest shopping day of the year. The delay had been widely expected, and while the company hasn't announced a new date yet, there's speculation that it will be in early October. The delay comes following supply chain disruptions as well as a flood of orders during the pandemic. Shares of Amazon were more than 2% higher during premarket trading on Tuesday. — Annie Palmer, Pippa Stevens

Shares of IBM were trading 5.4% higher in premarket hours on Tuesday after reporting better-than-expected earnings results on Monday. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.18 on revenues of $18.12 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting $2.07 in earnings per share and $17.72 billion of revenue, according to Refinitiv. IBM's revenue was down 5% year-over-year, and the company did not provide guidance. — Jesse Pound, Jordan Novet

U.S. stock futures rose sharply on Tuesday as the corporate earnings season continues and traders focus on potential fiscal stimulus. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded 200 points higher, or 0.7%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively. Those gains come after the major indexes posted solid gains in the previous session. — Fred Imbert