Stocks were mostly lower in afternoon trading on Tuesday as investors started digesting company earnings reports that are steadily coming out this week.
The S&P 500 index was down 0.8% as of 12:42 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 257 points, or 0.8% to 33,820 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.1%.
Bond yields fell and weighed down banks, which rely on higher yields to charge more lucrative interest on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.57% from 1.60%. Bank of America fell 2.8% and Citigroup fell 3.5%.
Technology stocks were also falling and putting more pressure on the broader market. Apple fell 1.1%.
The broader market took a more defensive posture as utilities, real estate companies and a mix of companies that make consumer staples like food and household products gained ground. General Mills rose 2% and Clorox rose 3.1%.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks, which has been outpacing the broader market all year, fell 2.1%.
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The market has been swaying between gains and record highs to pullbacks as investors weigh solid economic growth against the risks still posed by the virus pandemic. That push and pull will likely continue as vaccine distribution rolls on and various industries reopen.
“Overall, we’re going to have some volatility in the market this year, but everything to me looks fairly rosy for the next six months or so,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs.
Investors are in the middle of first-quarter earnings season. Roughly 80 members of the S&P 500 will report their results this week, as well as one out of every three members of the Dow. Wall Street will be looking to see if Corporate America is recovering with the rest of the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
On average, analysts expect quarterly profits across the S&P 500 to be up 24% from a year earlier, according to FactSet.
United Airlines fell 9.4% after reporting a loss that was wider than analysts were expecting, and drugmaker Abbott fell after reporting revenue that fell short of forecasts.
Kansas City Southern jumped 15.9% after another Canadian railway company offered to buy the railroad for $33.7 billion, far higher than a $25 billion offer made by Canadian Pacific last month.
Apple will be in focus as the company makes its latest product announcements later Tuesday. Analysts are not expecting anything blockbuster out of Apple at this event, except for some major refreshes of the company’s popular iPad.
Markets in Europe were also falling. Germany’s DAX slipped 1.6%, France’s CAC 40 fell 2.1% and Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 2%.
