S&P 500, Dow decline after recent gains; Nasdaq hits 10,000

The S&P 500 and Dow fell on Tuesday after recent strong gains, while the Nasdaq extended its record run and briefly rose above the 10,000 mark for the first time. Investors eyed this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. While no major policy announcements are expected when the U.S. central bank wraps up its two-day meeting on Wednesday, investors will scrutinize its remarks on the health of the economy, which has been reopening after coronavirus-related closures.

The benchmark S&P 500, which erased its losses for the year on Monday, is about 5% below its own all-time high. The Nasdaq hit a record intraday high for the third straight session. On Monday, it set a closing high and became the first of Wall Street’s main indexes to confirm a new bull market after hitting a low on March 23.

The rally in U.S. stocks accelerated last week after strikingly upbeat May jobs data strengthened views that the worst of the economic fallout from the pandemic was over.

Financial, industrial and energy stocks, which have surged in recent weeks on hopes of an improved economic outlook, were the biggest drags on the benchmark S&P 500.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 241.63 points, or 0.88%, to 27,330.81, the S&P 500 lost 20.34 points, or 0.63%, to 3,212.05 and the Nasdaq Composite added 46.28 points, or 0.47%, to 9,971.02.

The S&P 1500 airlines index tumbled, while cruise operators Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd fell following their recent sharp recovery amid recent signs of a pickup in global travel.

The closely watched U.S. yield curve steepened the most since March as U.S. data improved.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 3.15-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.76-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 45 new highs and one new lows.

S&P 500, Dow decline after recent gains; Nasdaq hits 10,000, Reuters, Jun 9