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Stocks rise, Disney surges after hours

Stocks on Wall Street edged higher Tuesday as investors held out hopes for more government stimulus. Others played it safe by buying gold, driving the precious metal past the $2,000 mark for the first time ever.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq added a third of a percent. The Dow gained 0.6%.

DataTrek Research co-founder, Nick Colas:

“We’re not seeing much going on in the U.S. equity markets because we’re waiting on Washington D.C to come up with a stimulus package that makes sense for the current state of the economy.”

Capping the markets’ gains: rising U.S.-China tensions and weak earnings from Ralph Lauren and AIG.

The upscale clothing retailer’s quarterly revenue plunged by nearly $1 billion, falling by two-thirds, as Ralph Lauren swung to a loss from a profit. Store closures and a slowdown in global demand for luxury goods slammed its top and bottom lines.

Shares of AIG fell after the insurer reported quarterly adjusted earnings that dropped by more than half partly due to higher catastrophic losses.

Microsoft fell. The software giant is trying to buy short-video app TikTok’s U.S. operations.

After the bell, Disney shares rose sharply. The Mouse House eked out an adjusted profit that far outstripped the loss analysts had feared. Its new Disney+ streaming service has now pulled in more than 57 million subscribers.