Major U.S. Stock Indexes Slide; Bitcoin Nears January Record — WSJ

By Chelsey Dulaney and Alexander OsipovichRetailers are split over the impact of tariffs.A few days after Walmart warned tariffs will push up prices for American shoppers, prompting criticism from President Trump, Home Depot said it plans to hold the line on prices.The home-improvement retailer has been pushing to shift production out of China, and is working with suppliers to keep prices steady. Shares in Home Depot opened with gains after quarterly sales beat Wall Street forecasts, but later turned lower. Some other high-profile retailers--Target, Lowe's and TJX--are set to report results tomorrow.Tariffs are still in flux, and have so far had a limited impact on inflation. But many economists expect the White House's import levies to stoke price pressures in the coming months.Longer-term U.S. Treasury yields edged higher. Government bonds sold off Monday after lawmakers advanced a huge tax-and-spending bill expected to increase deficits and Moody's Ratings downgraded the U.S. late last week. Bond prices fell Tuesday in other countries too, notably Japan, where yields shot up after a bond auction met poor take-up.Overseas policymakers are stepping up easing to shelter their economies from the tariff fallout. Australia's central bank on Tuesday cut rates to a two-year low. In China, banks lowered benchmark loan rates, tracking earlier easing by the People's Bank of China.In recent trading:Stocks slipped. All three major indexes were lower in afternoon trading, putting the S&P 500 on track to end a six-day winning streak.Tesla shares gained more than 2% after Elon Musk said he would significantly cut back on his political spending, and expected to remain chief executive five years from now.Chinese battery giant CATL made its debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The stock jumped 16% as CATL wrapped up the largest equity offering in the world so far this year.Bitcoin climbed to around $106,200, one day after a bill backed by the crypto industry passed a key procedural vote in the Senate, approaching its record from January.The 10-year Treasury yield briefly rose above 4.5%, before pulling back a bit. It was recently at about 4.48%.Overseas stocks climbed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.5%, while indexes advanced in Australia and Europe.This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).