US close: Stocks mixed ahead of major tech earnings

Wall Street stocks turned a mixed performance on Tuesday ahead of a big batch of tech earnings after the close.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.01% at 33,984.93, while the S&P 500 was 0.02% weaker at 4,186.72 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.34% softer at 14,090.22.

The Dow closed just 3.36 points higher on Tuesday.

Tesla shares were in the red despite the electric carmaker posting record quarterly net incomes of $438.0m, while UPS shares soared after smashing Wall Street estimates with first-quarter revenue growth of 27%.

Alphabet posted a first-quarter profit twice as high as the same time a year earlier, driven by a surge in Google ad sales, while Microsoft reported a surge in sales amid demand for cloud services and PCs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the macro front, S&P/Case-Shiller's home price index revealed home prices had seen their biggest gain in 15 years in February, rising 12% year-on-year, up from 11.2% in January, as tight supply and strong demand led to bidding wars.

Elsewhere, consumer confidence surged to a 14-month high in April, with rising vaccinations, falling Covid-19 cases and a resurgent US economy easing anxieties. According to the Conference Board, consumer confidence climbed to 121.7 in April from a revised print of 109 for March - the highest level seen since February 2020.

Lastly, the Richmond Federal Reserve's April manufacturing index came in at 17, flat month-on-month and versus expectations for a reading of 22.

Also in focus, the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting today, with the central bank not expected to take any action.