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Indexes: Dow up 0.16%, S&P 500 up 0.08%, Nasdaq down 0.09%

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Tariffs take $1 bln bite from GM earnings, shares fall

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RTX down after cutting 2025 profit forecast

(Updates with market open prices)

By Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap

July 22 (Reuters) -

Wall Street struggled for direction on Tuesday as investors

weighed signs of progress in U.S. trade talks and perused a

spate of second-quarter company earnings, some of which showed a

hit from President Donald Trump's tariff policies.

At 09:38 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 68.00 points, or 0.16%, to 44,393.01, the S&P 500

gained 5.04 points, or 0.08%, to 6,310.64, and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 19.88 points, or 0.09%, to 20,954.29.

Tariffs have started to take a bite out of Wall Street

giants. General Motors ( GM ) saw its second-quarter profit skid

32% to $3 billion, with the automaker blaming hefty tariff costs

for carving out $1.1 billion from its results.

The company's shares lost 6.5%, while peer Ford

also dipped 1.4%.

"Everyone's watching GM very closely and the numbers did

disappoint, and specifically related to tariffs," said Mark

Malek, chief investment officer at Muriel Siebert.

"The fact that they (GM) did come out and say that

there's going to be a forecast based on increases in tariffs is

something that is going to play out throughout the day."

RTX slashed its 2025 profit outlook after taking a

direct hit from Trump's tariff war, sending its shares down

3.9%.

Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) did not fare much better - its

second-quarter profit nosedived nearly 80% after booking a hefty

$1.6 billion pre-tax loss.

Yet, despite the trade turbulence from Washington, the

robust U.S. economy has powered major indexes to fresh all-time

highs.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is

set to meet

his Chinese counterpart next week, potentially discussing

an extension to the August 12 deadline set for tariffs on China.

With just over a week before the August 1 deadline for

most U.S. trading partners, Bessent

stressed

that the administration was focused on striking

high-quality trade deals, not just quick ones.

Meanwhile, negotiations stalled with optimism for a

breakthrough deal with India waning, according to Indian

government officials, and as the EU weighed new countermeasures

against the U.S.

Still, a slew of positive earnings surprises has kept

markets near record territory. Analysts expect S&P 500 companies

to report a healthy 6.7% jump in second-quarter profits, with

Big Tech leading the charge, data compiled by LSEG showed.

Investors piled into tech titans on Monday, with

Google-parent Alphabet powering Wall Street gains

ahead of its results.

The company is scheduled to kick off earnings for the

"Magnificent Seven" megacaps along with Tesla on

Wednesday. Tesla rose 0.1% on Tuesday.

The healthcare sector jumped 1.3% to lead sectoral

gains after falling for the last three sessions.

Meanwhile, Philip Morris ( PM ) fell 7.5%, after

reporting

second-quarter revenue behind expectations, while

Coca-Cola slipped 1% despite beating quarterly profit

estimates. The stocks dragged the consumer sector to

the bottom.

After last week's mixed economic cues, traders have all but

ruled out an interest-rate cut next week. They now see about a

58% chance of a reduction in September, according to the CME's

FedWatch tool.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.21-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.65-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and no new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 22

new lows.