Specialist Michael Pistillo, left, and trader Sean Spain work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday. AP-Yonhap
The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 lost ground on Tuesday under pressure from technology stocks, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average touched a record high and SpaceX surpassed Amazon's market value to become the fifth-most valuable U.S. company.
After rallying sharply on Monday on optimism about a U.S.-Iran peace deal, investors in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq took a breather even as oil prices fell to their lowest levels since early March. Shares of SpaceX climbed more than 10 percent, helping the AI and rocket company surpass Amazon's market value and briefly top Microsoft's value as its blistering surge continued after its initial public offering.
While falling oil prices offered some support to equities, Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, said building on steep gains in the heavyweight technology sector was too difficult. Luschini said investors are cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy update due on Wednesday afternoon.
"We had a big move yesterday in the market," said Luschini, alluding to the S&P 500's 1.65 percent rally on Monday and Nasdaq's advance of more than 3 percent. "We're just digesting some of those gains and the setup in anticipation of the Fed meeting is always a little tentative." At 2:17 p.m. ET (1817 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 403.66 points, or 0.78 percent, to 52,074.69 after marking a record closing high on Monday. The S&P 500 lost 25.97 points, or 0.34 percent, to 7,528.32 and the Nasdaq shed 155.22 points, or 0.58 percent, to 26,528.72.
