(Updates prices to late afternoon)

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Indexes: Dow down 0.26%, S&P 500 up 0.06%, Nasdaq up 0.21%

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Tesla stock up after steep losses in previous session

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Minutes of Fed June rate meeting due on Wednesday

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Solar stocks fall as Trump seeks to end tax credits

By Sinéad Carew, Pranav Kashyap

July 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq struggled

for direction on Tuesday, as anxiety over President Donald

Trump's comments on tariffs overshadowed earlier investor hopes

that ongoing discussions might provide some clarity on U.S.

trade policies.

Wall Street equities had sold off on Monday after Trump

warned of sweeping new tariffs on goods from key trading

partners such as Japan and South Korea and a range of smaller

countries starting in August.

While stocks steadied on Tuesday, there was no real sign of

a rebound as investors were still digesting tariff news.

Trump broadened his global trade war on Tuesday as he announced

a 50% tariff on imported copper and said long-threatened levies

on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were coming soon.

"There's still a lot of uncertainty about how the tariff

story is going to play out. There are too many moving parts

here," said John Praveen, managing director at Paleo Leon in

Princeton, New Jersey, noting that investors hate uncertainty.

At 2:10 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 117.11 points, or 0.26%, to 44,289.25, the S&P 500

gained 3.46 points, or 0.06%, to 6,233.66 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 43.98 points, or 0.21%, to 20,455.71.

Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry groups, only five were

showing any gains. The energy index was the biggest

gainer, up 2.87%, while the more defensive utilities index

dropped 1.07%.

However, while investors were cautious about the bigger

indexes, the Russell 2000 small-cap index was

outperforming with a gain of about 1%.

In mega-cap stocks, shares of Tesla gained close to 3%

after the stock recorded its steepest single-day fall in roughly

a month on Monday.

The S&P 500's biggest gainer was Moderna Inc ( MRNA ) up more

than 9% after leading medical organizations filed a lawsuit

against U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and

Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that current

COVID-19 vaccine policies pose a threat to public health.

The market's cautious mood contrasted with the wild volatility

that was unleashed after Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff

announcements, which pushed the Nasdaq down sharply to confirm a

bear market and sent the Dow and the S&P 500 into a correction.

Since then, Wall Street has rebounded to regain lost ground,

with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 powering to fresh record highs

last week, as a solid labor market report helped ease fears of a

recession.

BofA Global Research and Goldman Sachs raised their year-end

targets for the S&P 500 index, broadly driven by reduced

policy uncertainty, resilient corporate earnings and potential

interest rate cuts.

Minutes of the Fed's June rate-setting meeting are scheduled

for release on Wednesday, potentially providing more clarity on

when the central bank might resume its policy-easing cycle.

Shares of solar stocks fell after Trump on Monday directed

federal agencies to strengthen provisions in the One Big

Beautiful Bill Act that repeal or modify tax credits for solar

and wind energy projects.

SunRun ( RUN ) dropped about 10% while Enphase Energy ( ENPH )

and SolarEdge Technologies ( SEDG ) fell more than 3%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.64-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE where there were 126 new highs and 20 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 2,941 stocks rose and 1,497 fell as advancing

issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.96-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 44 new lows.