NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes eased on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 retreating from a record high, as a decline in economy-sensitive cyclical stocks outweigh an early boost from growth stocks after reassuring comments from the Federal Reserve.
More than half of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading lower by early afternoon, with energy and financials leading declines.
Growth stocks including Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc rose between 0.2% and 2.2%, leading gains. Also boosting Apple shares was a report that the iPhone maker is planning a ‘buy now, pay later’ service.
Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo and Citigroup Inc also beat profit estimates. Wells Fargo and Citi rose, but BofA fell 3.8% as its mainstay lending business took a hit from low interest rates.
The S&P 500 banks index fell 1.2% for the second straight day after gaining steadily till the start of the earnings season.
American Airlines jumped 2.9% after it forecast positive cash flow.
Analysts expect 66% profit growth for S&P 500 companies in the second quarter, compared to a 30.6% decline during the second quarter of 2020, according to IBES estimate data from Refinitiv.
At 12:07 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 16.20 points, or 0.05%, at 34,904.99, the S&P 500 was up 4.31 points, or 0.10%, at 4,373.52 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.13 points, or 0.01%, at 14,676.52.
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