U.S. stocks end divided Tuesday in first trading day for week

Lola Evans
27 May 2026, 01:35 GMT+10

The Nasdaq Composite index closed at 26,656.18, climbing +312.21 points, a gain of 1.19 percent.
The Standard and Poor's 500 settled at 7,519.09, adding +45.62 points, or 0.61 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day in the red at 50,461.68, falling -118.02 points, a decline of 0.23 percent.

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks returned from the long Memorial Day weekend with a split performance on Tuesday, as technology shares powered the Nasdaq Composite to a substantial gain while the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a modest loss.

Trading resumed for the first time this week following Monday's holiday closure in the United States. Investors returned to a mixed session that saw the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite emerge as the clear winner. The index closed at 26,656.18, climbing +312.21 points, a gain of 1.19 percent.

The Standard and Poor's 500 also finished in positive territory. The broad-market index settled at 7,519.09, adding +45.62 points, or 0.61 percent. During the session, the S&P 500 traded between a low of 7,501.10 and a high of 7,539.09.

However, blue-chip stocks lagged behind. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day in the red at 50,461.68, falling -118.02 points, a decline of 0.23 percent. The Dow moved within a range of 50,356.64 to 50,785.68 on the day.

U.S. Dollar Strengthens Against Major Currencies on Tuesday, Euro, Pound and Kiwi Among The Losers

The U.S. dollar posted a mixed but generally firmer performance against its major counterparts in foreign exchange trading on Tuesday, gaining ground on the British pound, Swiss franc, and Canadian dollar, while edging lower against the Chinese yuan.

The euro softened slightly against the dollar. The EUR/USD pair last traded at 1.1629, down -0.0015, representing a decline of 0.13 percent. The pair traded within a range of 1.1616 to 1.1645 during the session.

The British pound saw one of the day's more notable moves. GBP/USD fell -0.00586 to finish at 1.3444, a drop of 0.43 percent. Sterling traded between a high of 1.3507 and a low of 1.3434 on Tuesday.

The U.S. dollar advanced against the Japanese yen. USD/JPY rose 0.41 to settle at 159.33, a gain of 0.26 percent. The pair fluctuated between 158.86 and 159.38.

The Swiss franc lost ground to the greenback. USD/CHF climbed 0.00318 to close at 0.78582, an increase of 0.41 percent. The session saw the pair range from 0.78254 to 0.78646.

The Canadian dollar also weakened against its U.S. counterpart. USD/CAD added 0.00122 to end at 1.3815, a gain of 0.09 percent for the dollar. Trading took place between 1.3798 and 1.3821.

The Australian dollar posted a modest decline. AUD/USD slipped -0.00054 to finish at 0.7167, a loss of 0.08 percent. The pair moved from a low of 0.7155 to a high of 0.7176.

The New Zealand dollar was the session's biggest loser among the major currencies tracked. NZD/USD tumbled -0.00374 to close at 0.5834, a steep drop of 0.64 percent. The kiwi traded between 0.5831 and 0.5875.

Finally, the U.S. dollar weakened slightly against the Chinese yuan. USD/CNY fell -0.00825 to settle at 6.78700, a decline of 0.12 percent. The pair remained relatively stable, holding within a narrow band around the 6.78650 level for most of the session.

Global Markets Close Mixed on Tuesday as European Losses Offset Asian Gains

Global stock markets delivered a mixed performance on Tuesday, with Asian indexes showing resilience while major European benchmarks closed firmly in the red.

In a notable outlier, Japan's Nikkei 225 surged to a close of 64,996.09, gaining +199.80 points, or 2.55 percent. South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index also had a strong session, jumping +199.80 points to finish at 8,047.51, a gain of 2.55 percent.

New Zealand's market also posted a gain, with the S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS rising +99.46 points to 13,069.74, an increase of 0.77 percent.

However, European markets told a different story. The EURO STOXX 50 I fell -72.51 points to 6,064.15, a loss of 1.18 percent, while the Euronext 100 Index dropped -22.11 points to 1,849.91, also down 1.18 percent.

France's CAC 40 closed at 8,173.11, losing -85.15 points for a decline of 1.03 percent.

In Germany, the DAX P finished at 25,184.89, down -204.21 points, or 0.80 percent.

Belgium's BEL 20 also fell -45.24 points to 5,603.79, a loss of 0.80 percent.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 bucked the European trend slightly, closing in positive territory. The index finished at 10,491.39, adding +25.13 points, or 0.24 percent.

Canadian stocks also finished lower. The S&P/TSX Composite index closed Tuesday at 34,653.87, down -177.02 points, a loss of 0.51 percent on volume of 256.53 million shares.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, results were mostly negative. Hong Kong's HANG SENG INDEX edged down -6.58 points to 25,599.45, a marginal loss of 0.03 percent.

The STI Index in Singapore fell -41.75 points to 5,028.80, a drop of 0.82 percent.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost -34.20 points to close at 8,657.80, down 0.39 percent, while the ALL ORDINARIES fell -32.80 points to 8,882.60, a decline of 0.37 percent.

In India, the S&P BSE SENSEX closed at 76,009.70, a loss of -479.26 points or 0.63 percent.

Indonesia's IDX COMPOSITE dropped -76.16 points to 6,130.19, falling 1.23 percent, and Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined -9.48 points to 1,699.02, down 0.55 percent.

Notable losers in the Middle Easr included the TA-125 in Israel, which fell -45.31 points to 4,419.71, a loss of 1.01 percent, and Egypt's EGX 30 Price Return Index, which closed at 52,658.80, down -202.70 points or 0.38 percent.

In Africa, South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index lost -50.47 points to 7,084.73, a decline of 0.71 percent.

In mainland China, the SSE Composite Index slipped -7.20 points to finish at 4,145.37, a loss of 0.17 percent. Finally, Taiwan's TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index closed at 43,525.37, down -119.03 points, or 0.27 percent.