US close: Stocks end mixed; technology sector drags
US stocks ended mixed in a narrow range on Tuesday, with gains on the back of rallying oil prices offset by weakness in the technology sector, which weighed on the Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both ended up 0.3% but the Nasdaq closed off 0.4%.
Energy issues lent support as oil continued to rebound from the lows seen after the meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha on Sunday, which failed to yield an agreement to freeze production.
Transocean surged nearly 10% while Freeport-McMoRan ended the session 9% higher.
“The stability in oil prices has strengthened attitudes among traders who are developing a strong appetite for riskier assets. After an initial plunge in oil prices due to a failed meeting in Doha, oil prices recovered remarkably and this has served as a signal that no more adverse news can cause any major dents for oil,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.
West Texas Intermediate gained 3.1% to $41.03 per barrel and Brent crude climbed 2.5% to $44.00.
On the corporate front, Goldman Sachs was in the black after the company’s first-quarter revenue beat analysts’ expectations, but International Business Machines slumped after saying late on Monday that first-quarter revenue and profit dropped 4.6% and 13.5%, respectively.
Shares in Netflix tumbled. Although its first-quarter earnings late on Monday beat analysts’ expectations, the company’s weak growth forecast weighed on the stock.
Johnson & Johnson advanced after raising its guidance for the year and reporting first-quarter earnings ahead of estimates, while Harley-Davidson was also higher after stronger-than-expected first-quarter numbers.
On the macroeconomic front, data from the Commerce Department showed US housing starts fell a little more than expected in March.
Housing starts declined 8.8% from February to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.09m compared with expectations for a drop to 1.17m. This was a 14.2% increase from the same month in 2015.
"Starts and permits almost always drop in March when Easter falls in the month. In short, the story is sufficiently uncertain that it would be very premature to draw firm conclusions about either the current state of the housing markets or the outlook. We expect a clear rebound in April," Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said.
S&P 500 - Risers
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $10.68 +9.54%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $12.01 +8.98%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $18.01 +7.97%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $33.70 +7.43%
ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $34.39 +6.93%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $28.22 +6.49%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $23.76 +6.31%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $34.34 +5.43%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $63.06 +5.33%
Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) $71.84 +5.20%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $136.88 -23.16%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $94.34 -12.97%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $35.64 -8.31%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $144.00 -5.59%
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $45.24 -4.07%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $24.30 -3.99%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $72.23 -3.36%
Public Storage (PSA) $263.48 -3.35%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $107.56 -3.13%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $151.07 -3.10%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $162.65 +2.28%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $130.50 +2.10%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $100.50 +1.82%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $63.32 +1.69%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $112.68 +1.58%
American Express Co. (AXP) $63.57 +1.57%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $65.68 +1.51%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $80.39 +1.44%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.64 +1.14%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.89 +0.86%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $144.00 -5.59%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $135.44 -0.99%
Visa Inc. (V) $80.75 -0.86%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $106.91 -0.53%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.60 -0.16%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $69.77 -0.13%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $56.39 -0.12%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $105.00 -0.12%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $59.56 -0.02%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $33.82 +2.80%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.92 +1.95%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $47.32 +1.76%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $112.29 +1.67%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $39.85 +1.52%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $204.63 +1.51%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $129.31 +1.30%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $41.34 +1.03%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $28.75 +0.91%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $82.77 +0.87%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $136.88 -23.16%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $94.34 -12.97%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $35.64 -8.31%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $24.30 -3.99%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $72.23 -3.36%
Broadcom Limited (AVGO) $151.07 -3.10%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $247.37 -2.56%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $35.88 -2.29%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $413.78 -2.04%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $36.31 -1.79%