NEW YORK: The Nasdaq recovered on Tuesday to close higher while the S&P 500 and the Dow closed lower, impacted by declines in healthcare and energy stocks.
Investors evaluated delayed economic data to gauge the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook for next year.
A Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 64,000 jobs in November following a decline in October because of government spending cuts. But the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November against the backdrop of economic uncertainty stemming from President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy.
A separate report on Tuesday showed retail sales were flat in October, just below an estimate of economists polled by Reuters calling for a rise of 0.1%. Analysts flagged the likelihood of the figures being distorted by slow data collection due to a recent government shutdown.
“This is all fairly old news at this point. Most data points are being viewed in the lens of what they are going to do to the Fed, and the data you got today isn’t likely to move the needle,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.
After Tuesday’s data, investors are pricing in interest rate cuts of at least 58 basis points next year – more than double the 25 bps signaled by the Fed last week.
Trump is set to interview Fed Governor Christopher Waller on Wednesday for the Federal Reserve chair position, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday afternoon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 302.30 points, or 0.62%, to 48,114.26, the S&P 500 lost 16.25 points, or 0.24%, to 6,800.26 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 54.05 points, or 0.23%, to 23,111.46.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 major industry sectors closed down, with energy stocks leading declines, falling nearly 3%. Crude prices hit their lowest level since 2021.
Health stocks fell 1.28%. Pfizer slipped 3.4% after the drugmaker forecast a challenging 2026 due to weaker sales of COVID-19 products and squeezed margins. Humana fell 6% after the health insurer announced unspecified leadership changes.
Among other stocks, B. Riley jumped 53.8% after the investment bank reported a profit for the second quarter, compared with a year-ago loss in an overdue quarterly filing. Comcast rose 5.4% after CNBC financial journalist David Faber speculated about potential involvement by an activist investor.
Separately, a Reuters report said Nasdaq submitted paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to roll out round-the-clock trading of stocks, months after the New York Stock Exchange and Cboe Global Markets announced similar plans.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.63-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 127 new highs and 88 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,064 stocks rose and 2,596 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.26-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and five new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 86 new highs and 196 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 16.70 billion shares, compared with the 16.99 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. — Reuters