Stocks capped a day of muted trading on Wall Street with slight losses Tuesday, giving back some of their modest gains from a day earlier.
The market has been mostly making small moves since last week, keeping the stock indexes near their recent record highs, as investors weigh solid corporate earnings results against renewed worries that troubles with COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and the spread of new variants of the coronavirus might delay a recovery from the pandemic.The S&P 500 lost 5.74 points to 3,849.62. The benchmark index is within 0.2% of the record high it set Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 22.
General Electric climbed 2.7% after the industrial conglomerate reported a surge in cash flow. GE is attempting a turnaround after shedding unprofitable divisions and focusing more on big industrial products such asjet engines and power equipment. Typically, when a company is in a turnaround, investors care more about cash flow than quarterly profits because it shows the company is able to pay down debts.Johnson & Johnson rose 2.
Meanwhile, traders are keeping a wary eye on rising coronavirus infections in various countries and a bumpy rollout of vaccinations in the U.S. The spread of variants that are thought to be more easily transmissible and that might be less effectively targeted by existing vaccines is adding to alarm.Vaccine maker Moderna said Monday that it will study whether a booster shot would be needed to protect against variants of the coronavirus, “out of an abundance of caution.
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