The S&P and the Nasdaq rose on Tuesday as upbeat earnings from Netflix spurred gains for the highly-valued technology sector, while the blue-chip Dow index came under pressure from declines in Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble. Netflix surged more than 13 percent to a record high of $257.71, crossing $100 billion in market value after the video-streaming pioneer beat Wall Street targets for new subscribers in the fourth quarter.
The gains also boosted other FAANG stocks - Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet - which rose between 1 percent and 1.8 percent. Insurer Travelers was the biggest gainer on the Dow, rising 4.5 percent after the company's profit topped estimates.
US President Donald Trump on Monday approved steep import tariffs on washing machines and solar panels, a move that was criticized by China, South Korea and Europe and stoked fears about a potential retaliation. "We just had the IMF increase the estimate for global economic growth and they called it widespread. But we need low barriers to trade for all of this to work," said Mariann Montagne, senior investment analyst and portfolio manager at Gradient Investments.
Shares of Whirlpool rose 2.6 percent and solar companies such as Real Goods Solar, Sunworks and First Solar climbed following the new tariffs. At 12:47 pm ET (1747 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25.03 points, or 0.1 percent, at 26,189.57 and the S&P 500 was up 4.16 points, or 0.15 percent, at 2,837.13. The Nasdaq Composite was up 45.31 points, or 0.61 percent, at 7,453.34.
Johnson & Johnson fell 4.11 percent, dragged down by a $13.6-billion charge related to the new US tax law and a court ruling on a crucial patent on its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade. Procter & Gamble dropped about 3.4 percent as investors focused on a drop in gross margins at the world's largest consumer goods maker.