Wall Street ended mixed on Tuesday, with a broad swath ofthe market closing lower, but the Nasdaq hit a record high as growth-focused sectors regained favour after yields on US Treasuries fell further.
The benchmark S&P 500 eased into negative territorys hortly after opening at an all-time high, and the Dow Jones industrial average closed lower, too.
The Russell 1000 Growth index rose 0.54%, outpacing a 0.93% decline in the Russell 1000 Value index.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors closed lower, while real estate rose the most after three weeks of declines. Technology, consumer discretionary, and utilities also rose.
Energy was the weakest sector, falling 3.20%, with Exxon Mobil Corp down 2.85% and Chevron Corp falling 1.96%, after ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus its allies abandoned talks to increase crude supply.
Oil at first rallied on news of the breakdown, but prices later retreated as traders focused on the possibility strife will cause some national producers to open the taps and start exporting more barrels than justified by demand.
Financial shares fell 1.55% as interest rates declined, reducing the profit margin on commercial lending. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell to lows last seen in late February, and last traded around 1.35%.
Amazon.com Inc jumped 4.69% after the US Defense Department canceled a $10 billion JEDI cloud-computing projectthat had been awarded to Microsoft Corp and announced a new multi-vendor contract expected to include Amazon.com.