US close: Stocks mixed amid corporate earnings, impeachment trial

Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday amid more corporate earnings and Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.03% at 31,375.83, while the S&P 500 was 0.11% weaker at 3,911.23 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.14% stronger at 14,007.70.

The Dow closed 9.93 points lower on Tuesday, cutting into gains recorded in the previous session.

Chemicals firm DuPont said sales in its electronics and imaging business had risen 9% to $1.02bn last quarter and pointed to a strong 2021 full-year performance on solid demand from smartphone makers and an automotive rebound, while Goodyear shares jumped early on in the session after the tire maker swung to a profit after topping sales estimates.

Also in focus, Trump's second impeachment trial began in the Senate on Tuesday, with the former head of state charged with having incited an "insurrection" after his supporters breached the US Capitol, the very same building in which the trial will take place, leading to the deaths of five people.

Turning to the coronavirus pandemic itself, the US has now recorded more than 27.76m cases of Covid-19, claiming the lives of 478,490 Americans in the process.

Democrats also unveiled the details of a Covid-19 relief package on Monday that included direct checks of $1,400 to Americans, with faster phase-outs than previous bills.

On the macro front, small business confidence in the US dipped at the start of the year with many company owners downbeat after Democrats won the presidential election and new Covid-19 cases surged, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed. The National Federation of Independent Business' confidence index slipped from a reading of 95.9 for December to 95.0 in January. Economists had forecast a reading of 97.0.

Elsewhere, December's JOLTS jobs report revealed openings had unexpectedly risen, led by increases in business services and retail trade - indicating that businesses were looking to adjust staffing levels as the US starts getting vaccinated against Covid-19. The Labor Department said the number of available positions increased to 6.65m during the month from a revised 6.57m in November, ahead of analyst estimates for a reading of 6.4m.

Lastly, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis president James Bullard predicted some "very strong" economic growth for the US as the Covid-19 pandemic eases in 2021.