USA Women's Olympic Water Polo Goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson holds her gold medal as she poses for photos outside the New York Stock Exchange, before ringing the opening bell, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
Stocks capped another wobbly day of trading on Wall Street with modest gains Tuesday, as financial and industrial companies helped lift the market, outweighing a pullback in technology stocks.
The S&P 500 recovered from an early slip and eked out a 0.1% gain, enough to eclipse the record high it set Friday. The majority of companies in the benchmark index made gains, but they were kept in check by technology companies, which have an outsized weight on the S&P 500.
Banks made some of the strongest gains as bond yields edged higher. Banks benefit from higher yields, which allow them to charge higher interest rates on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.35% from 1.31% late Monday.
Oil prices pulled up after sliding most of the last week and into Monday. U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 2.7% and helped lift the S&P 500's energy sector to 1.7% gain. Exxon Mobil rose 1.7% and Chevron gained 1.8%.
The broader market remains choppy with investors in the midst of a relatively quiet week. The latest round of corporate earnings is nearly finished and there are only a few pieces of economic data expected.
“We think this is a growing market and a growing economy and there’s room for this market to move,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “But that growth story does have some risk to it.”
The S&P 500 gained 4.40 points to 4,436.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 162.82 points, or 0.5%, to 35,264.67. The blue-chip index also notched an all-time high.
The slide in technology stocks weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which lost 72.09 points, or 0.5%, to 14,788.09. Small company stocks rose. The Russell 2000 index gained 4.55 points, or 0.2%, to 2,239.36.
Wall Street is still trying to gauge the pace of economic growth amid new worries about the latest wave of COVID-19 from the more contagious delta variant. Parts of Japan, including Tokyo, the capital, remain under a state of emergency as surging numbers of infections put more COVID-19 patients in already overburdened hospitals.
Analysts have said that the pace of growth will likely continue to slow as the year rolls on, but the latest surge with the virus has raised more concerns about just how much. Investors could have a better sense of the virus' impact on the economy in the coming months as schools reopen from summer break and people try to get back to normal activities, Haworth said.
Inflation concerns and the Federal Reserve's future plans to ease up on its support for low interest rates also hangs over the markets.
Earnings season is wrapping up with several big names. Sysco surged 6.5% after the food distributor reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street's estimates.
Ebay will report its results on Wednesday and Walt Disney will report results on Thursday.
Kansas City Southern jumped 7.5% after Canadian Pacific raised its offer for the railroad operator, reigniting a bidding war with Canadian National.
Matt Orton, Chief Market Strategist at Carillon Tower Advisers, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's record close for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, market broadening, and earnings results from tech giant Amazon.
Proptech startup Juno recently raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. The company says the funds will be used to further its mission of building sustainable and affordable apartment buildings across the United States. Juno Co-Founder and CEO Jonathan Sherr joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
As President Joe Biden heads to Europe for the G20 and the United Nations COP26 climate meeting, he has announced a new $1.75 trillion spending framework. Senate Democrats are reportedly close to agreeing on passing the legislation, but it hangs in the balance as President Biden and other world leaders will meet at COP26 and Biden looks to proclaim the U.S. a leader on climate issues. Vox Senior Reporter Rebecca Leber joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the $555 billion worth of clean energy initiatives Biden included in the framework, and how Democrats' continuing negotiations undermine U.S. climate leadership.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. reported Q3 earnings today. The bank holding company delivered a record $1.7 billion in revenue, but saw some pressure on its bottom line. The company says results were driven by its recent acquisition of TCF bank, as well as positive trends in areas like wealth management, capital markets, and card and payments processing. Cheddar News welcomes the chairman, president and CEO of Huntington Bancshares, Steve Steinour, to discuss.
While the Q3 GDP report showed just 2 percent growth for the U.S. economy, the National Retail Federation said holiday shopping totals could shatter previous records, giving a much-needed boost. Katherine Cullen, senior director of industry and consumer insights for the National Retail Federation, joined Cheddar to discuss some of the potential drivers of a Q4 shopping boom, including a surge in holiday gatherings after the pandemic had forced people to stay away from family in 2020 and financial stability within American households.
Solo Brands ($DTC), maker of steel wood-burning stoves and other outdoor brands, made its NYSE debut on Thursday. CEO John Merris stopped by Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about the decision behind the IPO and the company's experience in direct-to-consumer retail and e-commerce. Merris said that after going public the immediate goal for the company is to focus on overseas expansion. "Internationally, there's been a lot of demand and chatter from our customers of wanting us to launch there," he said.
Boxing Legend Mike Tyson, Chief Brand Officer, of Tyson 2.0 and Chad Bronstein, Chairman of Tyson 2.0, joined Cheddar News to discuss venturing into the cannabis industry.
