Wall Street stocks finished mixed on Tuesday following a choppy session as markets weighed the latest White House tariff actions and Federal Reserve commentary.

US trading partners expressed dismay and vowed retaliation to President Donald Trump's latest move – a plan to enact 25 percent tariffs on imported aluminium and steel from March 12.

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated in congressional testimony that the US central bank was in no hurry to adjust monetary policy, leaving a cloudy outlook for additional interest rate cuts.

All three of the major US indices had opened lower, but the Dow Jones finished up 0.3 percent at 44,593.

The S&P 500 was essentially flat at 6,068, while the Nasdaq declined 0.4 percent to 19,643.

LBBW's Karl Haeling said the market's ability to avoid a major selloff amid the tariff uncertainty reflected "underlying optimism" about economic conditions.

Among individual companies, Coca-Cola jumped 4.7 percent after reporting an 11 percent increase in profits to US$2.2 billion in results that topped estimates.

Apple gained 2.2 percent following a report that it partnered with Alibaba on artificial intelligence in China. Alibaba rose 1.3 percent.

Wednesday's calendar includes US consumer price figures for January. (AFP)