Dow -96.36 at 37905.45, Nasdaq +65.66 at 15425.95, S&P +14.17 at 4864.60
Stocks had a mixed showing today. The S&P 500 set another fresh record high thanks to a late afternoon recovery by some mega-cap stocks, but the major indices traded fairly close to yesterday’s closing levels for most of the session.
Overall, buyers and sellers were lacking conviction due in part to the fact that the S&P 500 and Dow are sitting at or near all-time highs and the bulk of Q4 earnings are still looming. The blue chip companies that reported earnings since yesterday’s close received mixed reactions from investors, which added to the muted index-level action.
3M (MMM 96.10, -11.92, -11.0%) weighed on the DJIA, along with a post-earnings decline in Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 159.81, -2.66, -1.6%).
At the same time, United Airlines (UAL 40.49, +2.04, +5.3%), Verizon (VZ 42.23, +2.65, +6.7%), and Procter & Gamble (PG 153.98, +6.12, +4.1%) logged sizable gains following their quarterly results.
The gain in Procter & Gamble helped propel the S&P 500 consumer staples sector to a 1.1% gain. Meanwhile, the real estate sector was the worst performer with a 0.5% loss.
Time for a pullback?
