Wall Street backs off record peaks, closes day slightly higher
After starting the day virtually unchanged on Tuesday, major equity indexes in the U.S. pushed higher to refresh their all-time highs before paring a portion of their daily gains.
Boosted by stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings reports, UnitedHealth and Johnson & Johnson stole the spotlight as they added more than 6% and 3% respectively. Furthermore, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander on Tuesday announced that he had reached an agreement with Democratic Senator Patty Murray to stabilize Obamacare by re-installing federal subsidies that were reduced by President Donald Trump's executive order last week. The S&P 500 Health Care Index (SPXHC) closed the day 1.3% higher and became the best performing index of the day on a sectoral basis.
On the other hand, Goldman Sachs, which recorded robust gains on Monday, reversed course on Tuesday and performed poorly as it lost 2.6%. The S&P 500 Financials Index dropped 0.55%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above the 23K mark, but closed the day at 22,995 points, adding 38.04 points, or 0.17%, on the day. "My view is it may take several days or a couple of weeks before it can sustain a level above 23,000. Right now, we're contending with earnings season, and the fact that the market has run up, leading up to the earnings season," Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York, told Reuters.
The S&P 500 added 1.52 points, or 0.06%, to 2,559.16 and the Nasdaq Composite closed virtually unchanged at 6,623.34.
Headlines from the NA session:
- US Trade Rep. Lighthizer: NAFTA is lopsided, needs to be rebalanced
- Market wrap: dollar outperforming all currencies - Westpac
- US: September Industrial Production Points to Steady Expansion - Nomura
- US Treasury yields rise as Trump favours Taylor - UOB
- US: Homebuilder sentiment shakes off storm worries - Wells Fargo
- Fed's Harker: Very little slack in labor market nationally, but masks regional disparities
- Trump likely to name Fed chair by early November - Reuters
- WTI plummets to fresh daily lows below mid-$51s as production in Kirkuk restarts
- US Industrial Production: Small gain In September - Wells Fargo
- US: Builder Confidence rises four points in October - NAHB
- US: Industrial production rose 0.3 percent in September
- US: Import prices rise 0.7% in Sept on higher fuel prices; export prices increase 0.8%