Industrials, tech stifle rally

Declines by industrial and technology companies weighed on U.S. stocks Tuesday, pulling the market back from its latest records.

The slide erased the gains from a broad rally earlier in the day that sent the Dow Jones industrial average above 26,000 points for the first time. The major indexes closed in the red.

Energy stocks fell as crude oil prices declined. Healthcare stocks were among the gainers.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.54% from 2.55%.

For the next few weeks, traders will be watching for details on how the recent federal tax overhaul will affect corporations.

Many companies are taking one-off charges for bringing home money held abroad, but traders expect them to benefit in the long run from the decision to cut the standard tax rate.

On Tuesday, Citigroup reported an $18.3-billion loss for the fourth quarter due to the new tax law. But excluding the one-time charges, it earned a profit. The stock edged up 0.4% to $77.11.

UnitedHealth Group rose 1.9% to $232.90 after it said earnings more than doubled last quarter. The nation’s largest insurer also raised its forecast well beyond expectations, largely because of the tax overhaul.

Alliance Data Systems led the tech-sector decliners, dropping 6.6% to $258.07.

Qualcomm, however, rose 4.4% to $68.25 after the chip maker sent a letter to shareholders, campaigning against a hostile-takeover attempt by rival Broadcom.

Viacom tumbled 7% to $31.38 after reports said the media firm is not in talks to merge with CBS Corp.

Energizer Holdings jumped 14.5% to $59.11 after it said it will acquire the battery and lighting assets of Spectrum Brands.

Merck rose 5.8% to $62.07 — the biggest gainer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index — after the drugmaker announced positive results from a clinical trial for a lung cancer treatment.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 57 cents to $63.73 a barrel. Brent crude fell 99 cents, or 1.4%, to $69.27. Wholesale gasoline fell 2 cents to $2.06 a gallon. Heating oil fell a penny to $1.84 a gallon. Natural gas fell 7 cents, or 2.2%, to $3.13 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold rose $2.20 to $1,337.10 an ounce. Silver rose 5 cents to $17.19 an ounce. Copper was little changed at $3.22 a pound.

The dollar fell to 110.30 yen from 111.09 yen. The euro rose to $1.2271 from $1.2181.