Stocks fell slightly on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 struggling to reach an all-time high set a month ago, as traders weighed headwinds on global trade and inflation.
The broad-market index fell 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 206 points, or 0.4%. Earlier on Tuesday, the S&P 500 was less than 0.1% from its intraday record.
Energy was the best-performing sector in the S&P 500, rising 1.9%. Halliburton and Valero Energy led the gains. Technology stocks also rose slightly.
However, a more than 1% decline in consumer and communications services weighed on the broader market. Meta Platforms fell 3%, while Amazon fell 2%.
"Overall, the market is still trying to break out of the consolidation that has been in place since early December," said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at Morgan Stanley's E-Trade. "This week is the start of retail earnings season, but news out of Washington, especially on tariffs, could continue to be a wild card for the market."
Wall Street is coming off a profitable week for the major averages. The Dow rose about 0.6% last week, while the S&P 500 gained 1.5%. The Nasdaq gained 2.6%.
Most of last week's gains came on Thursday after President Donald Trump's plan for reciprocal tariffs on countries with levies on U.S. goods calmed investors who feared tariffs would be tighter.
Stocks have been choppy early in the year. However, the numbers are still within reach of all-time highs as some components of inflation data signal more easing price pressures than the headline numbers suggest. That, in turn, could keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates.
"I think there's a non-zero chance that the Federal Reserve will change course next year because inflation is the story of 2026," said Steve Wyett, chief investment strategist at BOK Financial. "That's not reflected in asset values right now. I'm more optimistic than pessimistic, but I think we also need to be realistic."
The 30-stock Dow and Nasdaq are about 1% below their recent records, while the S&P 500 is just 0.2% below its own milestone. (Newsmaker23)
Source: CNBC
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