WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the upward move seen in the previous session, the major U.S. stock indexes moved in starkly opposite directions during trading on Tuesday. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 saw further upside, the narrower Dow showed a notable pullback.
The Nasdaq jumped 215.74 points or 0.9 percent to a nearly three-month closing high of 23,817.10, and the S&P 500 climbed 28.37 points or 0.4 percent to a record closing high of 6,978.60.
Meanwhile, the Dow ended the day off its worst levels of the session but still closed 408.99 points or 0.8 percent at 49,003.41.
The strength in the broader markets came as traders remain optimistic ahead of the release of earnings news from big-name tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Meta Platforms (META).
Shares of Microsoft surged by 2.2 percent and shares of Apple jumped by 1.1 percent, while shares of Meta edged slightly higher.
Positive sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like General Motors (GM) and UPS (UPS).
On the other hand, a slump by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) weighed on the Dow, with the health insurance giant plunging by 19.6 percent.
The steep drop by UnitedHealth came after the company reported slightly better than expected fourth quarter earnings but provided disappointing revenue guidance.
A Trump administration proposal calling for nearly flat rates for Medicare Advantage insurers also weighed on insurance stocks.
In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board released a report unexpectedly showing a significant deterioration in consumer confidence in the month of January.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index plummeted to 84.5 in January from an upwardly revised 94.2 in December.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to inch up to 90.0 from the 89.1 originally reported for the previous month.
With the steep drop, the consumer confidence index tumbled to its lowest level since hitting 82.2 in May of 2014.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.4 percent to a new record closing high.
Computer hardware and networking stocks also saw significant strength, contributing to the advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Outside of the tech sector, oil service stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of crude oil, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.0 percent.
On the other hand, healthcare, airline and housing stocks came under considerable selling pressure over the course of the session.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.4 percent and South Korea's Kospi surged by 2.7 percent.
Most European stocks also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, although the German DAX Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved modestly lower over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up 1.0 basis points to 4.223 percent.
Looking Ahead
Early trading activity may be somewhat subdued on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later in the afternoon.
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