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Following the strong upward move seen last week, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new record closing high, the Dow and the S&P 500 gave back ground.<\/p>\n
The Dow and the S&P 500 climbed well off their worst levels but still closed in the red. The Dow slid 208.98 points or 0.6 percent to 34,577.37 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.80 points or 0.2 percent to 4,343.54, but the Nasdaq rose 24.32 points or 0.2 percent to 14,663.64.<\/p>\n
The pullback by the Dow and the S&P 500 was partly due to profit taking after the advance seen last Friday lifted all three major averages to new record closing highs.<\/p>\n
Optimism about the economic outlook helped support the markets<\/span>, although traders remain somewhat concerned about the outlook for monetary policy.<\/p>\n Further insight into the Federal Reserve’s plans may be provided later this week when the central bank releases the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting.<\/p>\n Negative sentiment may also have been generated by a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing its reading on service sector activity pulled back off a record high in June.<\/p>\n The ISM said its services PMI slid to 60.1 in June from 64.0 in May, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 63.5.<\/p>\n “The rate of expansion in the services sector remains strong, despite the slight pullback in the rate of growth from the previous month’s all-time high,” said Anthony Nieves, Chair of the ISM Services Business Survey Committee. <\/p>\n He added, “Challenges with materials shortages, inflation, logistics and employment resources continue to be an impediment to business<\/span> conditions.”<\/p>\n Sector News<\/p>\n Energy stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day as the price of crude oil for August delivery tumbled $1.79 to $73.37 a barrel after reaching a six-year intraday high.<\/p>\n Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunged by 5.6 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index plummeted by 3.5 percent.<\/p>\n Considerable weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. <\/p>\n Airline, banking and natural gas stocks also saw significant weakness on the day, while retail stocks showed a strong move to the upside.<\/p>\n Other Markets<\/p>\n In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.2 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index slumped by 1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slid by 0.9 percent.<\/p>\n In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 6.1 basis points to a four-month closing low of 1.370 percent.<\/p>\n Looking Ahead<\/p>\n Trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n