04:31 PM EDT, 08/26/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose at the close of trading on Tuesday, with investors seeking refuge in mega-cap technology names amid a hit to risk sentiment after President Donald Trump ordered the removal of Lisa Cook as a governor of the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 45,418.07, with the S&P 500 up 0.4% to 6,465.94 and the Nasdaq Composite 0.4% higher at 21,544.27. The indexes traded little changed to mixed earlier in the session.

Technology names dominated the top 20 stocks in a category defined by market capitalization of more than $200 billion, implying these companies have a relatively bigger impact on index moves. Palantir ( PLTR ) , Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) , Cisco ( CSCO ) , Nvidia ( NVDA ) , and Broadcom ( AVGO ) were among the leading index heavyweights.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) could see a $260 billion swing in its market value following Q2 results on Wednesday, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing US options market data. The chipmaker's options implied a post-earnings move of about 6% in the company's shares in either direction, the news report said, adding that this was below the 7% long-term average move.

Meanwhile, Trump disclosed a letter late Monday on Truth Social addressed to Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook stating that she is "hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately," citing information from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte and Attorney General Pam Bondi that Cook "may have made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements."

But, Cook is planning to sue Trump over his attempt to dismiss her, her attorney said Tuesday, according to several media reports.

"Trump's announced firing of ... Cook sets in motion a legal spat as both sides dig in," Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, said in a note. "Next steps are unclear including whether she succeeds in filing an injunction and how legal actions subsequently unfold."

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures slumped 2.3% to $63.34 a barrel.

"Heavy-handed intervention in the Fed's independence is an implicit admission of the fiscal bind: every available tool is needed to manage a ballooning debt pile," PVM Oil Associates said in a note.

Treasury yields traded mixed, with the two-year yield down 4.7 basis points to 3.68% while the 30-year rate climbed 2.7 basis points to 4.92%.

The ICE US Dollar Index slid 0.2% to 98.26.

Silver futures fell 0.2% to $38.63, while gold futures climbed 0.6% to $3,438.1.

In economic news, the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 97.4 in August from 98.7 in July, compared with the 96.5 forecast in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

US durable goods orders fell less than projected in July as weakness in the transportation equipment component persisted, official data showed. Orders for tangible items with an average life of at least three years fell 2.8% sequentially to about $302.81 billion last month, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That follows a month-on-month decline of 9.4% in June. The consensus was for a 3.8% drop in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 1.1% in July, faster than the 0.3% growth in the month prior. The Street expected a 0.2% increase.

Further in company news, Eli Lilly ( LLY ) shares jumped 5.9%, the top performer on the S&P 500, after the company said a phase 3 trial evaluating the investigational drug orforglipron in adults with obesity, or overweight, and type 2 diabetes met its primary and secondary endpoints.

Keurig Dr Pepper's ( KDP ) planned $23 billion acquisition of JDE Peet's is ultimately likely to be value accretive, "but will take some time to realize that value," analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a note. Keurig's shares dropped 6.9%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

Russia hopes that a joint venture between titanium producer VSMPO-Avisma and Boeing ( BA ) in the Sverdlovsk region will resume operations, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported Tuesday, citing an interview with the country's First Deputy Prime Minister, Denis Manturov. Boeing's ( BA ) shares advanced 3.5%, among the top gainers on the S&P 500 and the Dow.