The Standard Poor’s 500-stock index hit an intraday record high on Tuesday before slipping in a tight-range session, while the Dow Jones industrials got a lift from upbeat earnings.
By the end of trading, the S. P. was 0.2 percent lower, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.6 percent.
The S. P.’s decline was only its second down day in the last 14 for the benchmark index. The SP 500 has gained about 19 percent for the year.
“Valuations are decent, there’s positive monetary pressure, earnings are just O.K.” said John Manley, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in New York. “It’s hard to get people excited but the market keeps grinding higher.”
“It will be slow over the summer, but the market will have an upward bias,” he said.
Shares of United Technologies, the world’s largest maker of elevators and air conditioners, led the Dow’s advance after the company raised the low end of its 2013 earnings forecast. The stock was up 3 percent.
The Dow also reached an intraday record high shortly after the opening bell, within a few minutes of the SP 500’s jump to its record intraday high.
Asian markets rose after local media outlets in China reported that the government was looking to increase investment in railroad projects to reduce gluts in steel, cement and other materials as it aimed to ensure annual economic growth did not sink below 7 percent.
The reports lifted stocks across Asia outside Japan by 1.3 percent, to their highest levels since early June. They also gave an early increase to mining stocks in London, although a lack of detail made some in the markets cautious.
A flurry of merger and acquisition activity and a sharp rally in telecommunications shares added to gains across Europe in morning trade, but by the end of the session, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was 0.2 percent lower.
Among declining shares in the United States, the online-entertainment company Netflix fell 4.5 percent, a day after it reported that its show “Arrested Development” had lured new subscribers in the second quarter — but not enough to impress investors.
United Parcel Service posted a smaller quarterly profit as customers chose slower, cheaper shipping services, especially on international routes. Its shares were 0.1 percent lower.
Benchmark crude oil in the United States gained 17 cents, to $107.11 a barrel. Investors are awaiting United States crude inventory data for further clues about the outlook for demand.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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