In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, traders work on the floor, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Stocks were slightly lower in early trading on Tuesday, after the major stock market indexes hit record highs the day before. Investors continue to keep their eyes on Washington, where it appears Democrats plan to move ahead without Republican help on a major stimulus bill for the economy. (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
The major U.S. stocks capped a listless day of trading Tuesday with an uneven finish that snapped a six-day winning streak for the S&P 500 even as the Nasdaq set another all-time high.
A late fade pulled the S&P 500 down 0.1%, just below its record high set a day earlier. The benchmark index closed with a nearly even split between gainers and losers. A mix of companies that deal with consumer services and products were the biggest drag on the broader market, outweighing gains in communications, industrial and health care stocks.
A slight pullback after six straight days of gains is not uncommon, as investors pause during a rally to reassess and wait for more economic data to see where the market goes next.
Investors continued to monitor the action in Washington, where it appears Democrats plan to move ahead without Republican help on a major stimulus bill for the economy.
“It seems like fiscal stimulus will pass through reconciliation and the result will be one that is larger than was thought probably two or three weeks ago," said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.
The S&P 500 index slipped 4.36 points to 3,911.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 9.93 points, or less than 0.1%, to 31,375.83. The Nasdaq rose 20.06 points, or 0.1%, to 14,007.70, its fourth straight gain. The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks rose 9.24 points, or 0.4%, to 2,299. The four indexes set all-time highs on Monday.
Stocks have been moving steadily higher for several days as Wall Street becomes more optimistic that the worst parts of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic might be in the rearview mirror. Vaccine rollouts continue both in the U.S. and globally, with the U.S. administrating hundreds of thousands of doses per day.
“The vaccinations have outpaced the virus and that becomes part of what’s playing into the optimism in the market,” Buchanan said. “It makes for an environment where it’s getting back to some sense of normality.”
Washington is preparing to go big for its next round of economic stimulus to support struggling Americans and businesses. Democrats have rallied around President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, which will include one-time payments to Americans plus a likely increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Expectations for another financial boost for the economy have helped keep investors in a buying mood.
The market's strong start to February and the strength in shares of companies that rely on consumer spending "is an indicator of the optimism creeping higher and the assumption that consumers in the U.S. will get a larger check perhaps than we thought three or four weeks ago,” Buchanan said.
Several companies made big moves after reporting their latest quarterly results Tuesday. Hanesbrands soared 24.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting earnings that came in well ahead of what analysts were expecting.
Mobile games developer Glu Mobile vaulted 34.9% after it agreed to be acquired by Electronic Arts in a deal valued at $2.1 billion. Shares in Electronic Arts, maker of “Medal of Honor” and other video games, rose 2.6%.
Shares of GameStop and AMC Entertainment continue to be volatile, as online investors remain in a tug-of-war with Wall Street institutional investors over the struggling companies' values. GameStop shares fell 16.1% and AMC lost 11%.
Traders in cryptocurrencies continued to push up the price of bitcoin. It rose 7.3% to $47,184, according to the tracking site CoinDesk. Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange climbed 6.6% to $47,700. The futures allow investors to make bets on the future price of the digital currency.
Treasury yields were mostly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.16% from 1.14% late Monday.
Apple is on the verge of becoming the world's first publicly-traded $3 trillion company. The iPhone maker's stock needs to hit $182.86 to surpass the $3 trillion mark. CFRA Research senior industry analyst Angelo Zino joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Lance Ippolito, Head Trader at the Future Of Wealth, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell where he discusses the factors that have contributed to the recent slide of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.
Web3 software startup Thirdweb has raised $5 million in a funding round, coming from a group of high-profile investors, including Gary Vaynerchuk and Mark Cuban. Thirdweb says it is paving the way for the revolution surrounding the new iteration of the internet known as web3, by offering users free tools to build their own web3 projects. Thirdweb's co-founders Steven Bartlett and Furqan Rydhan join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Decentralized talent network Braintrust recently closed an atypical equity deal that involved investors buying $100 million in Braintrust tokens, the company's cryptocurrency. Braintrust's talent network is built on blockchain technology, which the company says allows it to be owned and built by users, instead of a centrally-controlled corporation. Braintrust users can also earn tokens for their contributions to the network and its growth. Braintrust co-founder Adam Jackson joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Blue Origin launched its third manned mission over the weekend with 'Good Morning America' host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard on board, alongside several Blue Origin investors.
This comes after the spaceflight firm launched two successful missions to the edge of space earlier this year. How will these missions set up Blue Origin for success as it competes with SpaceX and other companies for space tourism domination and more? Joey Roulette, space reporter at The New York Times, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
If there's any question about whether inflation is here to stay, today's November consumer price index data gives us an answer. This is the second month in a row we've seen a hot inflation reading — CPI last month rose to 6.8%, after jumping to 6.2% in October. Amid the holiday shopping season, what does this mean for consumers? And how will the Federal Reserve move forward after previously announcing it would speed up its asset taper timeline? Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss November's CPI jump, where consumers are hurting the most, what the Fed could do to help ease inflation, and more.
Editorial and stock photo provider Getty Images is gearing up to make its public debut via a SPAC merger with CC Neuberger Principal Holdings II bringing it to a $4.8 billion valuation. CEO Craig Peters joined Cheddar to break down the decision to go public and noted that the merger will help to pay down debt. "That's going to really enable a lot of additional free cash flow and financial flexibility into the business," he noted. "That's just going to allow us to just invest more aggressively into the business to accelerate what is already accelerating growth." Peters also discussed the legacy image platform's place going forward in the expanding world of digital assets like NFTs and the metaverse.
Ben Schiller, the managing editor for features and opinion at CoinDesk, breaks down how the year's top 10 crypto influencers were selected and what to expect from the blockchain ecosystem, especially the growth of NFTs, in 2022. "This whole crypto story has become not just a story about money or the future of money," he said. "It's also become a cultural story where it's getting into gaming, it's getting into artwork, into collectibles, and all kinds of cultural categories it wasn't in before." Schiller noted that he expects the U.S. and other world governments to establish crypto regulations in the coming year.
Ford said it will ramp up production for its Mustang Mach-E as demand for the electric vehicle surges. The automaker expects to sell upwards of 200,000 annually by 2023.
