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Indexes: Dow down 0.08%, S&P 500 up 0.1%, Nasdaq up 0.18%

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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

(Updates with market open prices)

By Pranav Kashyap and Nikhil Sharma

July 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes largely

held firm on Tuesday, as jitters over President Donald Trump's

latest tariff offensive were offset by mounting hopes that fresh

talks with U.S. trading partners could avert a full-blown global

tariff war.

On Monday, Trump warned partners from Japan and South Korea

to smaller players that steep new U.S. tariffs would kick in

from Aug. 1 - though he left the door open to delays if

countries come forward with fresh proposals.

Japan's top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, held a

40-minute phone call with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard

Lutnick, where the two sides agreed to "actively" continue

negotiations.

At 09:57 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell

33.58 points, or 0.08%, to 44,372.78, the S&P 500 gained

6.03 points, or 0.10%, to 6,236.25 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 37.51 points, or 0.18%, to 20,450.02.

The sentiment has improved since a knee-jerk reaction on

Monday, when all major indexes closed sharply lower following

the tariff announcement.

In S&P 500 sub-sectors, the energy index led the

pack with a 1% rise, while utilities dropped 1.3%.

In mega-cap stocks, shares of Tesla gained 1.5%

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

a month on Monday.

"The market's taking comfort from the fact that the can has

been kicked further down the road and the expectation remains

that the bark is a lot worse than the bite," said Ben Laidler,

head of equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.

The swift market recovery is in stark contrast to the sharp

selloff that followed "Liberation Day" tariff announcements

three months ago - a rout that plunged the Nasdaq into bear

territory and sent the Dow and S&P 500 into correction.

Since then, Wall Street has rebounded, with the Nasdaq and

S&P 500 both notching record highs last week, buoyed by a robust

labor market that helped quiet recession worries.

"We have not seen any dramatic economic consequences from

big increase in tariffs," Laidler added.

The U.S. has so far reached trade agreements with only

Britain and Vietnam.

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.

Traders have now all but ruled out a July rate cut from the

Federal Reserve, putting the odds of a September cut at around

63%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

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

for release on Wednesday, which will offer investors 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 8.9%, Enphase Energy ( ENPH ) lost

4.6% and SolarEdge Technologies ( SEDG ) declined 4.2%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.57-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, and by a 2.17-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and three new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 47 new highs and 26 new

lows.