Stocks end mixed on Wall Street after early gain evaporates
Major indexes struggled to a mixed finish on Wall Street after giving up an early gain
BEIJING — Major indexes struggled to a mixed finish on Wall Street after giving up an early gain. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% Tuesday as losses for technology and health care companies offset gains in other sectors. Elsewhere, the Nasdaq fell 0.1% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%. The Russell 2000, which tracks small-company stocks, rose 1.1%. The back-and-forth trading came as investors returned from the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. AMC jumped more than 22% after the movie theater operator announced a stock sale. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 1.61%.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Stocks notched modest gains on Wall Street Tuesday afternoon as investors returned from a three-day holiday weekend and digested a report showing more growth in manufacturing as the coronavirus pandemic wanes in the U.S.
The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% as of 2:28 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index swung been a gain of 0.7% and a loss of 0.2%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 82 points, or 0.2%, to 34,611. The Nasdaq was up less than 0.1% after having been down 0.5% in the early going. Small-company stocks outpaced the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index added 1.1%.
Banks were among the biggest gainers as bond yields ticked higher, which allows them to charge more lucrative interest rates on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.61% from 1.58% Friday. U.S. markets were closed Monday for Memorial Day. Bank of America rose 1.1%.
Energy companies also helped lift the broader market. Crude oil prices jumped more than 2%, helping to send producers higher. Exxon Mobil rose 3.6%.
Health care and technology companies fell, checking gains elsewhere in the market.
The Institute for Supply Management reported that manufacturing picked up again in May. The ISM”s manufacturing index came in at 61.2 last month, much better than the 60.6 expected by economists surveyed by FactSet.
The growth in manufacturing came despite supply shortages that have plagued many manufacturers for weeks, particularly those who require semiconductors.
It’s the latest piece of economic data that has shown the U.S. economy growing quickly out of the coronavirus pandemic. Investors will get jobs data later this week, which is expected to show that U.S. employers created 663,000 jobs last month.
AMC Entertainment jumped 22.8% after the movie theater operator announced a stock sale. AMC, whose stock is up more than 1,000% this year, is one of a handful of companies that gained the attention of a group of online retail investors earlier this year, along with companies like GameStop.
