Closing Stock Market SummaryThe S&P 500 increased just 0.2% on Tuesday, as selling in the last hour of trading spoiled a 0.8% intraday gain in the benchmark index. Relative weakness in the mega-cap stocks took the Nasdaq Composite down 0.8% after it set an intraday high at the open, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.6%) and Russell 2000 (+1.3%) outperformed.
It was largely a rotation trade after yesterday saw mega-caps and growth stocks surge at the expense of seemingly almost everything else. Today, advancing issues outpaced declining issues by a 3:1 margin at the NYSE and a 2:1 margin at the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 energy sector rallied 6.2%, and the financials (+1.9%) and industrials (+1.3%) sectors followed suit.
Positive factors that helped broaden out the gains included another round of better-than-expected earnings reports and the EU agreeing to a €750 billion fiscal stimulus package. The market wasn't up more, though, because of the off-day for the mega-cap stocks within the information technology (-1.1%), consumer discretionary (-0.4%), and communication services (-0.4%) sectors.
Regarding the late selling, there were reports that attributed it to Senate Majority Leader McConnell saying he doesn't expect the next fiscal stimulus bill to be completed by the end of next week. Such reports are dubious, though, considering that the news was first mentioned in a tweet from a Politico reporter about 30 minutes prior to the selling.
Separately, IBM (IBM 126.06, -0.31, -0.3%) was one of those companies that exceeded quarterly expectations, but shares were swept up with the rotation out of technology stocks. Fellow Dow component Coca-Cola (KO 47.20, +1.08, +2.3%) gained 2% after beating earnings estimates.
Elsewhere, U.S. Treasuries and gold prices ($1843.60/ozt, +26.50, +1.4%) finished the day higher. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.14%, and the 10-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.61%. The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.7% to 95.20. WTI crude gained 2.3%, or $0.93, to $41.76/bbl.
Investors did not receive any notable economic data on Tuesday. Looking ahead, investors will receive a trio of housing data on Wednesday: Existing Home Sales for June, the FHFA Housing Price Index for July, and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index.
- Nasdaq Composite +19.0% YTD
- S&P 500 +0.8% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average -6.0% YTD
- Russell 2000 -10.9% YTD