Dow Reaches Record Closing High But S&P 500, Nasdaq End Little Changed

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher over the two previous sessions, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Tuesday.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, although the narrower Dow showed a more significant increase to reach a new record closing high.

The Dow pulled back well off its best levels of the day but still closed up 218.16 points or 0.5 percent to 46,924.74. The S&P 500 crept up 0.22 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,735.35, while the Nasdaq dipped 36.88 points or 0.2 percent to 22,953.67.

The advanced by the Dow partly reflected a sharp increase by shares of 3M (MMM), with the multinational conglomerate spiking by 7.7percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola (KO) also surged by 4.1 percent after reporting third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Dow components Salesforce (CRM), Amazon (AMZN) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) also posted significant gains on the day.

Meanwhile, the lack of direction shown by the broader markets came as traders took a breather following the recent upward move.

While the corporate earnings season is off to a positive start, traders may have been reluctant to continue buying stocks amid lingering concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and the ongoing government shutdown.

A lack of major U.S. economic data due in part to the shutdown may also have kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Friday.

With most other economic reports indefinitely delayed, the inflation data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week.

Sector News

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, although oil service stocks moved sharply higher, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.3 percent.

Halliburton (HAL) helped to lead the sector higher, soaring by 11.6 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Housing stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index climbing by 1.7 percent.

Retail stocks also saw notable strength, while gold stocks plummeted along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 10.0 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Tuesday. China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.4 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.7 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both closed up by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries extended the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 2.3 basis points to a one-year closing low of 3.963 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to the latest earnings news, with Netflix (NFLX), Capital One (COF) and Mattel (MAT) among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.

AT&T (T), Hilton (HLT) and Winnebago (WGO) are also among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading on Wednesday.