WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day before eventually ending the session narrowly mixed.
While the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 81.49 points or 0.4 percent to 20,892.69, the S&P 500 inched up 4.02 points or 0.1 percent to 6,309.62 and the Dow climbed 179.37 points or 0.4 percent to 44,502.44.
Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street after the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the previous session at record closing highs, with a negative reaction to some of the latest earnings news also weighing on the markets.
Shares of General Motors (GM) plunged by 8.1 percent after the automaker reported second quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates but were down sharply year-over-year.
Leading global security, defense and aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT) also tumbled by 10.8 percent after reporting weaker than expected second quarter revenues.
Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
Traders were also looking ahead to the release of quarterly results from Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) after the close of trading on Wednesday.
Sector News
Housing stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 6.7 percent to its best closing level in over five months.
D.R. Horton (DHI) helped lead the sector higher, soaring by 17 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal third quarter results.
Significant strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 3.1 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in over twelve years.
Oil service, biotechnology and steel stocks also saw considerable strength, while semiconductor, networking and computer hardware stocks moved to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slipped by 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly lower on the day. The German DAX Index slumped by 1.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries saw further upside following the notable advance seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 3.6 basis points to 4.336 percent.
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