The S&P 500 ended slightly higher on Wednesday as investors digested mixed earnings reports, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped as bank stocks weighed.
The Nasdaq gained moderately to close at a record high for a second straight day, lifted by big tech names such as Facebook and Apple.
Major US stock indexes are hovering around record highs after a rally following the November 8 election of President Donald Trump amid expectations he will usher in fiscal stimulus and lower regulations and taxes.
But the rally has stagnated in recent days as investors await more details about Trump’s potential economic policy agenda.
“Usually, this would be a period in which earnings and guidance drive the market,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“But because it’s the first three weeks or four weeks of anew president who is promoting radical change than what has been going on, Washington takes precedence, I think, over earnings inthe eyes of investors these days.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35.95 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 20,054.34, the S&P 500 gained 1.59 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,294.67 and the Nasdaq Composite added 8.24 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 5,682.45.
Financials, which have soared since the election, were the worst-performing S&P sector, falling 0.8 per cent. Goldman Sachs fell 0.8 per cent, making it the biggest drag on the Dow, and JP Morgan dropped 0.9 per cent.
Bank stocks are sensitive to interest rate changes, and US Treasury yields fell to their lowest levels in weeks.
The real estate and utilities sectors,which tend to perform well in low-rate environments, were the best performing groups.
“As the yield curve flattens, we’re back to a very tough environment for financials,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. “They live off the spread.”
With about two-thirds of the S&P 500 having reported results, fourth-quarter earnings are on track to have climbed 8.3 per cent, which would be the best performance since the third quarter of 2014, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
In other corporate news, Nordstrom shares rose 4.1 per cent. Trump attacked the retailer on Twitter for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line.
About 6.7 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges,similar to the daily average over the last 20 sessions.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a1.29-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.23-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; theNasdaq Composite recorded 92 new highs and 51 new lows.