Major U.S. stock indexes edged slightly higher Tuesday, though weakness in the shares of technology and social-media companies capped their gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.00 points, or 0.2%, to close at 31068.69, after wobbling between small gains and losses throughout the day.
The broad-based S&P 500 ticked up 1.58 points, or less than 0.1%, to 3801.19. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 36.00 points, or 0.3%, to 13072.43.
All three indexes closed at record highs on Friday but retreated at the start of this week.
Investors broadly expect stocks to rally this year as the rollout of vaccines and fresh government spending help the economy recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic. Still, some are bracing for volatility in the coming months amid risks stemming from high valuations in parts of the market, elevated coronavirus case rates and political uncertainty following last week’s attack on the Capitol.
In the coming days, money managers will parse quarterly results as earnings season gets under way among U.S. companies. Companies set to report results this week include
and
“There is an expectation for an earnings recovery compared with last year, which is quite important,” said
Maria Municchi,
multiasset portfolio manager at M&G Investments. “The stimulus we have seen is certainly supportive to some of this earnings growth.”
In Washington, Congress careened toward a fresh showdown with
President Trump.
House Democrats said they plan to vote on impeaching him Wednesday over accusations he incited supporters to storm the Capitol.
The clash could lead to some short-term swings in stock prices but ultimately has limited implications for investors, according to Ms. Municchi. “Compared to the pandemic situation and the need for resolution, this is almost a side show,” she said.
Some big technology and communications stocks continued to decline after sharp drops on Monday.
fell $5.75, or 2.2%, to $251.09, while
slid $1.14, or 2.4%, to $47.04. The two social-media companies have taken increasingly tougher actions to block Mr. Trump’s accounts and stem misinformation and incitements to violence ahead of President-elect
inauguration.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet declined $18.86, or 1.1%, to $1737.43, while
slipped 18 cents, or 0.1%, to $128.80. Both tech giants recently removed Parler, a social-media service popular among conservatives, from their app marketplaces amid concerns that it…
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