US close: Markets mixed after solid start

By Sharecast News

Sharecast News | 09 May, 2017

23:29 08/07/24

20,439.54
0.23%47.57

Max: 20,455.38
Min: 20,363.37

Volume: 0
MM 200 : 17,192.52

Stocks on Wall Street finished mixed on Tuesday, after starting solidly amid a backdrop of renewed gains for big cap tech names and stock volatility at record lows.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.17% at 20,975.78 and the S&P 500 was off 0.1% at 2,396.92, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.34% to 5,678.31.

On Monday the market capitalisation of Apple briefly surpassed the $800m mark after Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet's investment vehicle, announced that during the first quarter it had increased its stake to nearly $20bn.

Come Tuesday, the shares were 0.62% higher.

LCG senior market analyst Jasper Lawler commented: "Stocks in the US opened higher on Wednesday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notching up fresh record highs.

“Shares in America’s biggest tech firms Amazon, Apple and Alphabet all hit record highs.

“At the same time the VIX index tracking S&P 500 volatility fell to a 24 year low."

The CBoE volatility index was up by 1.84% to 9.94.

Economic data was light on Tuesday, with the Commerce Department reporting a 0.2% month-on-month rise in US wholesale inventories for the month of March.

NFIB reported that its gauge of small business confidence edged higher by 0.2 points in April to 104.5.

On the corporate front, Marriott International was 6.36% higher after its quarterly earnings late on Monday beat expectations.

Shares in Valeant rocketed 24.1% after the pharma outfit posted its first quarter numbers.

Discovery Communications lost 2.17% after it reported a drop in first quarter net income to 37 cents per share which was down from 42 cents one year ago and well below the 50 cents which analysts at FactSet had penciled in.

Stock in Office Depot surged 2.94% after the firm soundly beat analysts' forecasts for first quarter earnings and sales.

Dow Jones - Risers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $54.90 1.09%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $76.72 0.79%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $153.99 0.64%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $112.07 0.58%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $157.68 0.50%
Boeing Co. (BA) $186.91 0.48%
American Express Co. (AXP) $78.43 0.36%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $121.46 0.31%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $69.04 0.15%
Visa Inc. (V) $92.00 0.09%