The S&P 500 hit an intraday record high on Tuesday before slipping in a tight-range session, while the Dow industrials got a lift from upbeat earnings. The S&P biotech subindex fell 1.6 percent a day after hitting an all-time high. The S&P healthcare index slipped 0.3 percent and ranked among the worst performers of the 10 industrial sectors in the S&P 500.
Shares of United Technologies, the world's largest maker of elevators and air conditioners, hit an all-time high of $105.50 and led the Dow's advance after the company raised the low end of its 2013 earnings forecast. At midday, the stock was up 2.4 percent at $104.59. The Dow also reached an intraday record high shortly after the opening bell, within a few minutes of the S&P 500's jump to its all-time intraday high. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18.16 points or 0.12 percent, to 15,563.71, the S&P 500 lost 2.85 points or 0.17 percent, to 1,692.68 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 14.66 points or 0.41 percent, to 3,585.73.