Following the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions, stocks are turning in a mixed performance in mid-day trading on Tuesday.
The Dow and the S&P 500 are giving back ground after ending the previous session at their best closing levels in over a month, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is extending the recent upward trend.
Currently, the major averages remain on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq is up 37.16 points or 0.3 percent at 11,913.42, the Dow is down 84.55 points or 0.3 percent at 28,752.97 and the S&P 500 is down 9.37 points or 0.3 percent at 3,524.85.
The advance by the Nasdaq is partly due to strength among big-name tech stocks, with Netflix (NFLX) and Microsoft (MSFT) posting notable gains in mid-day trading.
On the other hand, a drop by shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is weighing on the Dow, as the healthcare giant is slumping by 2.1 percent.
J&J reported better than expected third quarter results but also paused a late-stage trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate due to an unexplained illness in a study participant.
Financial giant and Dow component JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has also come under pressure despite reporting third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates.
Meanwhile, a rally by shares of Disney (DIS) has helped to limit the downside for the blue chip index, with the entertainment giant jumping by 4.6 percent.
The spike by Disney comes after the company announced a strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses to focus on developing and producing original content for its streaming services.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest increase in consumer prices in the month of September, with the uptick in prices matching economist estimates.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent in September after climbing by 0.4 percent in August.
Prices for used cars and trucks spiked by 6.7 percent, accounting for most of the monthly increase by the headline index.
Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices still edged up by 0.2 percent in September following the 0.4 percent growth seen in August. The uptick in core prices also matched estimates.
Sector News
Considerable weakness has emerged among banking stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent slump by the KBW Bank Index. The index is pulling back after ending the previous session at its best closing level in nearly four months.
Airline stocks have also moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.3 percent.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) has shown a notable move to the downside after reporting a wider than expected third quarter loss on revenues that missed analyst estimates.
Oil service stocks have also come under pressure as the day has progressed, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index tumbling by 2.2 percent. The weakness in the sector comes despite a rebound by the price of crude oil.
Gold, steel, and commercial real estate stocks are also seeing significant weakness in mid-day trading, while software and retail stocks are adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index closed just above the unchanged line.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slid by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved higher as trading resumes following the holiday on Monday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 4.1 basis points at 0.734 percent.
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