Nasdaq index ends lower ahead of big tech earnings

NEW YORK — The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost ground on Tuesday as the market awaited a spate of high profile corporate earnings and the US Federal Reserve convened for its monetary policy meeting.

The S&P 500 closed nominally lower after touching a new intraday high, while the blue-chip Dow finished higher.

Shares of Alphabet, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. fell in extended trading after the companies released their quarterly earnings reports.

“There’s a lot of trepidation over the start of the earnings releases from ‘the magnificent seven,’” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. “The stocks have done incredibly well and there’s a little bit of caution being expressed right now and maybe rightly so.”

Economically sensitive sectors such as Dow Transports, chips, and small caps underperformed the broader market.

The Labor department reported an unexpected rise in job openings, hinting that the market remains too solid for the Fed to consider cutting its key policy rate as soon as March.

The Fed is expected to end its policy meeting on Wednesday with a decision to let its key interest rate stand at 5.25%5.50%. Its accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s subsequent press conference will be parsed for clues on the timing and number of rate cuts this year.

Fourth-quarter reporting season has shifted into overdrive, with announcements so far by 144 of the companies in the S&P 500. Of those, 78% have delivered consensus-beating earnings, according to London Stock Exchange Group.

United Parcel Service slid 8.2% after the package deliverer issued a disappointing annual revenue forecast, weighing on transports.

General Motors jumped 7.8% after the automaker provided an upbeat 2024 earnings forecast, and promised more capital return to shareholders.

Ford Motor rose 2%.

The S&P 500 declined 0.06% to end at 4,924.97 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.76% to 15,509.90 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.35% to 38,467.31 points.

Six of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by financials, up 1.2%, followed by a 1.01% gain in energy.

Boeing Co. shares slid 2.3% ahead of its quarterly earnings report expected before Wednesday’s opening bell. Scrutiny into the planemaker is intensifying over its 737 MAX 7 after a mid-air cabin blowout on Jan. 5.

Citigroup and Bank of America rose over 3% following rating upgrades from Morgan Stanley, pushing the S&P 500 banks index up 2.1%.

Johnson Controls dropped 3.8% after the building products supplier lowered its full-year profit estimate, while MSCI advanced 9.3% after the global index provider posted a higher fourthquarter profit.

Super Micro Computer rose 3.5% after the server seller projected stronger-than-expected quarterly sales.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.2-to-1 ratio. —