12:43 PM EST, 11/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark stock indexes traded mixed midday Tuesday as traders assessed President-elect Donald Trump's latest comments on tariffs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2% to 44,649.4, the Nasdaq rose 0.5% to 19,155.9 and the S&P 500 was up 0.4% to 6,008.9 after midday on Tuesday.

Utilities and communication services led the gainers, while the materials sector was the biggest decliner intraday.

Late Monday, Trump called for a 25% tariff on products imported from Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% levy on Chinese imports.

"It's a threat, but not a certainty, and it may be temporary if executed," Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, said in a note. "This may be why the reaction across financial markets is not bigger."

In economic news, US new-home sales slowed to a 610,000 annual rate in October from an unrevised 738,000 pace in September, lower than the 725,000 rate expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Home sales slid 9.4% from October 2023.

The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence increased to 111.7 in November from 109.6 in October, below a reading of 111.8 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The present situation reading rose to 140.9 from 136.1, while the expectations reading climbed to 92.3 from 91.9. The current assessment of both employment and business conditions improved in October.

In company news, Amgen ( AMGN ) said a phase 2 study showed that its investigational obesity drug MariTide demonstrated up to 20% average weight loss after a year in people living with obesity or overweight without type 2 diabetes. Mizuho said in a note that this efficacy is "on the low end of expectations." Amgen ( AMGN ) shares fell 8.5% intraday.

Semtech ( SMTC ) shares jumped past 22% in recent Tuesday trading after the company posted fiscal Q3 non-GAAP earnings, net sales, and fiscal Q4 non-GAAP EPS guidance that topped consensus estimates.

The US 10-year Treasury yield advanced 4.1 basis points to 4.30%. The two-year rate rose 2.9 basis points to 4.28%.

The US Dollar Index was up 0.3% to 107.08.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.5% to $68.59 per barrel.

Gold was up 0.3% to $2,626.60 an ounce, and silver rose 0.8% to $30.48 per ounce.