(Adds market details after the close, including prices and

volume data)

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Indexes: Dow off 0.37%, S&P 500 falls 0.07%, Nasdaq up

0.03%

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Tesla stock rises 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 ended Tuesday's choppy

session slightly lower as investors waited for clarity on U.S.

trade policy after President Donald Trump's latest tariff

threats dampened hopes around talks with some trade partners.

Wall Street equities had sold off sharply 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.

Tuesday's moves in U.S. indexes were less pronounced than in

the previous session but the benchmark S&P 500 and the

tech-heavy Nasdaq spent the session flitting between red and

green as investors sought direction from tariff headlines.

Trump appeared to broaden his global trade war with the

announcement on Tuesday that he would put a 50% tariff on

imported copper while he said that long-threatened levies on

semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were coming soon.

The U.S. president said trade talks have been going well

with the European Union and China but added that he was only

days away from sending a tariff letter to the EU.

"It's almost like markets are waiting to exhale," while

investors wait for more tariff news, said Carol Schleif, chief

market strategist at BMO Private Wealth in Minneapolis,

Minnesota.

"The fact that markets are holding in pretty tight, still

just an eyelash away from all-time highs, shows investors are

willing to give headlines the benefit of the doubt," she said.

And while investors wait for the second-quarter earnings season

to begin in mid-July, they are likely relieved by the passage

into law last week of the U.S. government's spending plan,

including some business-friendly tax policies, according to

Schleif.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 165.60 points,

or 0.37%, to 44,240.76, the S&P 500 lost 4.46 points, or

0.07%, to 6,225.52 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.95

points, or 0.03%, to 20,418.46.

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

showed any gains. The energy index had the biggest

advance, finishing up 2.72%, while the more defensive consumer

staples and utilities sectors both fell more

than 1% on the day.

While investors were wary of making big moves in larger

stocks, the Russell 2000 small-cap index outperformed

with a 0.66% gain.

The market's cautious reaction to trade headlines 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.

In mega-cap shares, Tesla gained 1.3% after its stock

recorded its steepest single-day fall in roughly a month on

Monday.

In other individual stocks, U.S. copper miner Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX )

appeared to benefit from the idea of steep import

tariffs on the metal, with the stock ending up 2.5%.

Moderna ( MRNA ) was the S&P 500's biggest percentage gainer,

jumping 8.8% 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.

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 ) sank 11.4% while Enphase Energy ( ENPH ) lost

3.6% and SolarEdge Technologies ( SEDG ) dropped 1%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.51-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, where there were 156 new highs and 25 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 2,797 stocks rose and 1,669 fell as advancing

issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.68-to-1 ratio.

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

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 83 new highs and 51 new lows.

On U.S. exchanges 17.03 billion shares changed hands

compared with the 18.31 billion moving average for the last 20

sessions.