US stocks fall as investors turn cautious following records
U.S. stocks were edging lower as investors turn cautious a day after major indexes closed at their latest record highs
Stocks edged lower in afternoon trading on Tuesday as investors turn cautious a day after major indexes closed at their latest record highs.
Investors shifted money away from technology companies, which have among some of the biggest winners since the pandemic began. Industrial stocks also fell broadly.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% as of 1:22 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 93 points, or 0.3%, to 30,310. The Nasdaq also fell 0.3%.
Wall Street set fresh records on Monday after President Donald Trump signed a wide-ranging spending bill that includes $900 billion in COVID-19 aid and reams of other legislation on taxes, energy, education and health care.
Investors hope that the measures will help tide the economy over until more people get vaccinations and help it through its pandemic-induced slump.
“We’re kind of seeing the same thing we’ve been seeing, the dichotomy between where the financial markets are and where the actual economy is,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management.
The recent round of aid from Washington was mostly expected and it would have taken a much bigger package to really make markets jump, he said.
The only other pending set of business from Washington is whether Senate Republicans will pass President Trump’s push to get $2,000 stimulus checks to Americans instead of the current $600. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked Democrats’ push to immediately bring President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks up for a vote, saying the chamber would “begin a process” to address the issue.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 0.93% from 0.92% late Monday.
Trading has been thin as a tumultuous 2020 draws to a close. The market will be closed for New Year’s Day Friday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 2.7% to 27,568.15, the first time it has traded above 27,000 since August 1990, according to FactSet. The market hit its all-time peak close of 38,915.87 on Dec. 29, 1989.
European markets mostly rose. The French CAC 40 rose 0.4%, while the FTSE 100 was up 1.5%. The German DAX fell 0.2%.
