NEW YORK: The S&P 500 was little changed on Tuesday a day after the benchmark index logged its longest streak of gains this year, as investors weighed expectations of an economic recovery against risks from a sharp jump in new coronavirus cases nationwide.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, on the other hand, claimed another record level, boosted by shares of Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc while the Dow Industrials dropped 0.7% weighed down by Goldman Sachs and Boeing Co.
Bank stocks, whose performance is linked to the outlook for the economy, dropped 2.5%. Travel-related stocks, which were among the hardest hit during lockdowns, also fell. The S&P 1500 airlines index shed 3.5%.
At 11:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 184.71 points, or 0.70%, at 26,102.32, the S&P 500 was down 1.38 points, or 0.04%, at 3,178.34. The Nasdaq Composite was up 62.80 points, or 0.60%, at 10,496.45.
Florida's greater Miami area became the latest US coronavirus hot spot to roll back its reopening, while Texas registered an all-time high in the number of people hospitalized at any one moment with Covid-19 for an eighth straight day.
"There's some signs of improvement in economic activity and there's concerns about rising cases in particular states. And all of that had the market kind of churning but not really find true direction," said Brian Levitt, global market strategist, Invesco in New York City.