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Wall Street rises as corporate profits pile higher along with uncertainty about Trump’s trade war

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rose again Tuesday as stronger-than-expected profits kept piling higher for companies, though CEOs said they’re unsure how long that can last because of uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s trade war.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to extend its winning streak to a sixth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 300 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.5%.

Honeywell International helped lead the market with a gain of 5.4% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Perhaps even more importantly for investors, it also raised its forecast for profit over the full year.

“Though we have not yet seen it in our results, we recognize we face an uncertain global demand environment for the remainder of 2025, and our company will work tirelessly, leveraging all tools available to us, to deliver for customers and shareholders,” CEO Vimal Kapur said.

Sherwin-Williams rose 4.8% for another one of the market’s bigger gains after the paint and coatings company likewise reported a better-than-expected profit.

CEO Heidi Petz said it expects to see softness from some of its customers persist well into the second half of this year, but she also said her company gets the majority of its raw materials from the regions where it manufactures. That could help blunt the possible impact from tariffs.

Other stocks weren’t as strong, even though their companies reported stronger-than-expected profits.

Much like the broader market, UPS stock swung between losses and gains at the day’s start of trading after it reported a stronger profit than analysts expected for the first three months of 2025. Because it’s the world’s largest package delivery company, UPS can offer a window into how the global economy is doing.

But UPS also said it wasn’t updating its financial forecasts previously given for 2025 because of “the current macro-economic uncertainty.” It also said it expects to cut about 20,000 jobs and close 73 buildings this year as part of a cost-cutting effort that CEO Carol Tomé said “could not be timelier.” Its stock finished 0.4% lower.

Investors fear Trump’s tariffs could bring a recession if left unaltered because they could freeze global trade and send prices higher for all kinds of products. And Trump’s on-again-off-again rollout could by itself throw into disarray the long-term plans for spending and investment by businesses and households.

U.S. households are getting much more pessimistic because of tariffs, and a report from the Conference Board on Tuesday said their expectations for income, business and job market conditions dropped to the lowest level since 2011 and are well below the level that usually signals a recession ahead.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said such economic uncertainty is a tool Trump can use as he negotiates tariffs and trade deals. “President Trump creates what I would call strategic uncertainty in the negotiations,” he told reporters at the White House.

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