U.S. stocks had a mixed Tuesday. The Nasdaq closed at a record high for the second day in a row, led by a rally in tech and consumer discretionary stocks. The S&P 500 made slight gains, while the Dow ended the day lower, as tensions between the United states and a few of its trade allies once again dented investors' confidence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) declined less than 0.1%, to close at 24,799.98. The S&P 500 made a marginal gain of less than 0.1% to close at 2,748.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 7,637.86, increasing 0.4%. A total of 6.58 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 6.64 billion shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.43-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.79-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
How did the Benchmark Perform?
The tech heavy Nasdaq gained 31.40 points led by a rally in tech stocks. Shares of Netflix NFLX , and Amazon AMZN surged 1.1% and 1.9%, respectively. Amazon has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Dow shed 13.71. Shares of Goldman Sachs GS took a beating, as bond yields took a toll on banks and other financial companies that gain from rising interest rates. The S&P 500 gained a meager 1.92 points, consumer staples and financials suffering the most. Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) and Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) lost 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
Tech Stocks Rally Again
The Nasdaq registered its second straight day of gains, with tech stocks once again leading the rally. Shares of Netflix hit a record high on Tuesday on news that the company would join the S&P 500 index. Moreover, on Monday, a Barclays' BCS analyst said that the streaming giant's "aggressiveness" could change the entire movie distribution and video subscription business, which also saw the stock rallying.
Also shares of Twitter TWTR jumped 5.1% on news that the company would join S&P 500 index. Other tech giants too posted gains, with Apple's AAPL shares increasing 0.8% (read: Apple Closes in on $1 Trillion, Should You Care? ).
Trade War Fears Back Gain
Trade war fears once again gripped markets which saw both the S&P 500 and Dow struggling on Tuesday. Investors panicked as Mexico imposed tariffs on a wide range of U.S. products including pork, bourbon and some types of cheeses. This was seen as a setback for a number of U.S. packaged food companies. Shares of General Mills GIS and Kellogg K declined 2% each.
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Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Twitter, Inc. (TWTR): Free Stock Analysis Report
Barclays PLC (BCS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report
General Mills, Inc. (GIS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Kellogg Company (K): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
