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Honeywell ( HON ), Sherwin-Williams ( SHW ), Coke lift Dow

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General Motors ( GM ) pulls forecast on tariff uncertainty

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HSBC cuts S&P 500 year-end target

(Updates to market close)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed

solidly in positive territory on Tuesday, after seesawing

between modest gains and losses in choppy trading as investors

assessed the latest round of corporate earnings, economic data

and changes on the trade policy front.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted China could

lose 10 million jobs quickly due to tariffs, but signaled

progress on trade deals with other countries including Japan and

India.

The world's two largest economies have been at the center of

a global trade war, sparked by tariff announcements on April 2

by the Trump administration on countries around the globe, which

has stoked investor concerns about rapidly slowing global growth

and a rekindling of price pressures.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said U.S. President Donald

Trump will sign an order on Tuesday giving automakers building

vehicles in the U.S. relief from part of his new 25% vehicle

tariffs to allow them time to bring parts supply chains back

home.

Automaker shares showed little reaction to the potentially

lighter tariffs, and General Motors ( GM ) shares ended lower

after the company reported strong quarterly results but

rescinded its annual forecast.

The blue-chip Dow was led by gains in Honeywell ( HON )

, which jumped after reporting a rise in adjusted profit

for the first quarter, and paint maker Sherwin-Williams ( SHW ),

which rallied after its quarterly profit beat estimates.

Also among Dow components, Coca-Cola closed higher

after beating revenue and profit estimates.

"A lot of the economic data is going to be mixed, it's going

to be really hard to discern tariff impacts probably for the

next month or two," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market

strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan.

"Corporate profits, the companies that are most impacted by

tariffs, are doing what we would expect, they're cutting

guidance or they're suspending guidance."

Economic data pointed to an increasing impact from the trade

picture. The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to a record

high in March as businesses ramped up efforts to bring in

merchandise ahead of tariffs while a separate report from the

Conference Board showed its consumer confidence index dropped to

its lowest reading since May 2020, while job openings indicated

a relatively stable labor market.

"Trump's tariffs have pushed expectations off a cliff," said

Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. "Maybe the silver lining is that

it'll be hard to not see some improvement in expectations over

the next few months."

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 31.93 points, or 0.56%, to end at 5,560.68 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 93.33 points, or

0.54%, to 17,459.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 289.91 points, or 0.72%, to 40,517.50.

More economic data is due this week, culminating in Friday's

key government payrolls report, along with earnings from several

of the "Magnificent Seven" group of megacap stocks such as Apple ( AAPL )

and Microsoft, with investors likely to home

in on any signs of tariff impact.

United Parcel Service ( UPS ) slipped after its quarterly

results and said it would cut 20,000 jobs as it sheds deliveries

for Amazon.com ( AMZN ).

While each of three major indexes remains in negative

territory for the year, stocks have shown signs of stabilizing

in recent weeks, with the S&P 500 registering its sixth straight

session of gains, its longest win streak since a seven-day run

in November.

HSBC became the latest brokerage to trim its year-end target

for the S&P 500 index, cutting it to 5,600 from 6,700 earlier.

Wells Fargo ( WFC ) gained after announcing a stock buyback

program of up to $40 billion.