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NEW YORK — Stocks were mixed on Wall Street in Tuesday afternoon trading after a rally in tech companies helped reverse an early decline.
The S&P 500 was up 0.6% as of 2:29 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index fell by 0.8% in early trades. It fell 3.2% the day before, hitting the lowest level in more than a year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has changed little, alternating between small gains and losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.6%.
Major tech stocks, which have been swinging both up and down sharply lately, account for most of the S&P 500’s comeback. Apple rose 2.7% and Microsoft 2.9%.
Gains in communications and healthcare stocks also helped boost the market, outweighing declines in finance, real estate and other sectors.
Bond yields were mixed. The 10-year Treasury rate fell to 2.98% from 3.08% late Monday.
Treasury yields have been rising lately and stocks have been extremely volatile as Wall Street adjusts to an aggressive turn in the Federal Reserve’s policies to support the economy and fight inflation. The central bank is raising interest rates from historic lows to combat persistently rising inflation, which has reached its highest levels in the last four decades.
The central bank has raised its benchmark rate to near zero, where it sits for most of the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, he stated that future increases will double the size.
Higher prices for raw materials, shipping and labor reduce corporate financial results and forecasts. Many companies are raising the price of everything from clothing to food, raising concerns that consumers will reduce spending, which will ultimately hurt economic growth.
Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine has only raised concerns about rising inflation. The conflict is pushing already high oil and gas prices even higher, putting further pressure on the costs of staples such as wheat and corn. US crude oil prices fell 3.4% on Tuesday, but rose more than 35% in 2022. Wheat prices rose more than 40% for the year.
Investors are also reviewing the latest corporate earnings round, with still mixed results. The Peloton fell 7.9% as the former pandemic darling of investors reported much weaker results than Wall Street had expected. Food distributor Sysco rose 8.1% after beating analysts’ estimates.
Migraine treatment developer Biohaven Pharmaceutical rose 69.9% after Pfizer announced it would buy the company for $11.6 billion. Pfizer already owns part of the company.
Wall Street will get more details on inflation this week. The Labor Department will release its April consumer price report on Wednesday. On Thursday, it will release its report on producer prices for April, or wholesale prices affecting businesses.
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Veiga reported from Los Angeles.
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