Wall Street finished mostly higher on Tuesday, buoyed by a retreat in long-term Treasury yields and a cooling of oil prices, which helped investors look past a round of disappointing economic data from the housing sector. A steady stream of well-received corporate earnings reports provided further insulation for the broader market, even as traders positioned themselves for major reports due out after the closing bell, including results from high-profile companies such as Netflix and SpaceX.

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s trading session, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1% to finish at 52,495. The broader S&P 500 managed a modest gain of 0.3% to settle at 7,712, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished the day marginally lower at 26,424 as investors weighed valuation concerns against falling borrowing costs.

The day’s positive momentum across major equity benchmarks was significantly supported by a pullback in yields. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note retreated 2.1 basis points to 5.115%, while the 30-year Treasury yield dropped 5 basis points to settle at 5.423%. This relief in the fixed-income market coincided with downward pressure on energy markets. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures shed 0.9% to close at $102.75 per barrel, offering some relief to consumers and industries alike, though crude prices still remain nearly 14% higher for the month-to-date period.

Against this macroeconomic backdrop, individual corporate developments drove some of the day’s most notable market movements, highlighted by a major surge for industrial icon 3M and a massive buyout in the software sector.

3M Jumps on Amazon Data Center Deal and Strong Earnings

Industrial conglomerate 3M emerged as the standout performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday, surging 5.8% to notch its best single-day performance since July. The rally was catalyzed by a robust quarterly report featuring an earnings beat and an upward revision to the company’s full-year guidance, alongside a major strategic announcement regarding its commercial footprint.

During the third quarter, 3M reported that its earnings expanded by 14.2% compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching $2.50 per share and easily surpassing consensus expectations from Wall Street analysts. Revenue for the quarter rose 4.2% year over year to hit $6.6 billion, coming in just slightly below analyst estimates. Looking ahead to the remainder of the fiscal year, management raised its expectations for full-year earnings per share to a range of $9.10 to $9.15, marking an improvement over its previous forecast of $8.80 to $8.95.

Beyond the financial metrics, Wall Street reacted enthusiastically to 3M’s revelation of an expanded strategic commercial relationship with retail and cloud computing giant Amazon. The partnership is designed to deploy and scale 3M’s specialized optical connectivity and other data center-related products to meet surging infrastructure demands.

According to regulatory filings, the agreement includes provisions granting Amazon the option to purchase up to 3.2 million shares of 3M common stock over a seven-year period. This option is contingent upon the achievement of several key business milestones, most notably generating $6 billion in cumulative sales from 3M’s optical connectivity and data center product portfolio.

Ally Financial Hikes Its Dividend by 17%

In the financial sector, Ally Financial also captured investor attention following a favorable quarterly earnings report and a significant capital return announcement. Shares of Ally Financial rose 1.0% after the leading online bank reported third-quarter earnings of $1.34 per share, representing a 16% increase compared to the same period in the previous year. Total revenue for the institution climbed 9% year over year to reach $2.3 billion, comfortably beating Wall Street’s consensus estimates.

Alongside the financial results, Ally Financial revealed that its board of directors approved a 17% increase to the company’s quarterly dividend payout. This adjustment marks the first time the firm has raised its dividend since late 2021, signaling management’s confidence in the bank’s underlying asset quality, capital generation, and long-term earnings trajectory.

Braze Soars 52% on Salesforce Buyout

Outside of the earnings calendar, the technology sector experienced a major jolt following news of a multi-billion-dollar acquisition. Shares of customer engagement platform Braze skyrocketed 51.7% on Tuesday after enterprise software giant Salesforce announced a definitive agreement to acquire the company in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.66 billion.

Salesforce indicated that the transaction is anticipated to close during fiscal 2028. Upon completion of the deal, Braze’s real-time customer engagement and artificial intelligence decisioning capabilities are expected to integrate smoothly across all four primary layers of Salesforce’s architectural framework, encompassing Data 360, Customer 360, Agentforce, and SIForce.

The acquisition comes on the heels of a favorable shift in Wall Street sentiment toward Salesforce. Earlier in the month, BofA Securities analyst Tal Liani double-upgraded Salesforce stock from an underperform rating to a buy. In a note discussing the blue-chip stock, Liani addressed prior concerns regarding potential artificial intelligence-driven disintermediation, explaining that discussions with chief information officers and major enterprise market participants indicate that large corporations are unlikely to replace core software platforms that house their foundational business logic, data, workflows, and compliance frameworks.

Liani added that the ongoing integration of artificial intelligence should ultimately deepen enterprise dependence on these established platforms. He noted that Salesforce possesses a credible, forward-looking AI strategy and remains well-positioned for robust free cash flow generation moving forward.

Housing Starts, Pending Home Sales Fall Short

While corporate updates and retreating bond yields drove optimism on Wall Street, domestic economic data released on Tuesday underscored ongoing challenges within the housing market. Reports from the Census Bureau revealed that building permits slipped 0.2% from August to September, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.4 million. More dramatically, housing starts plunged 5.2% month over month in September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.2 million.

Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, noted that affordability challenges continue to weigh heavily on transaction momentum, prompting homebuilders to significantly scale back their construction pace. Torres observed that the September housing starts figures marked the second-worst reading recorded since the pandemic recession in 2020. However, he pointed out that building permits proved somewhat more resilient, as construction firms increasingly shifted their focus toward multi-family apartment rentals rather than single-family housing projects.

Separate data released by the National Association of Realtors compounded the cautious outlook, showing that pending home sales dropped 7.3% from August to September and stood 11.3% lower on a year-over-year basis. Torres attributed the continued contraction to elevated mortgage rates and lofty home valuations, which are currently counterbalancing the positive economic tailwinds provided by a buoyant stock market, steady hiring trends, and subdued unemployment rates.