Wall Street steadies self, halts 4-day losing streak

Stocks on Wall Street shrugged off an early slide and closed higher Tuesday, halting the first four-day losing streak since the market was selling off in the early days of the pandemic.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.1%, led by solid gains in technology and communications stocks, and companies that rely on consumer spending.

Banks, health care and energy stocks closed lower. Homebuilders surged following a report showing U.S. home sales jumped in August to their highest level since 2006.

The gains helped the market recover some of its losses a day after stocks tumbled amid a raft of worries about the pandemic and governments’ response to it.

The S&P 500 rose 34.51 points to 3,315.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 140.48 points, or 0.5%, to 27,288.18. The Nasdaq composite climbed 184.84 points, or 1.7%, to 10,963.64. The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks picked up 11.71 points, or 0.8%, to 1,496.96.

Tuesday’s market rebound has been the exception this month.

Wall Street has suddenly lost momentum in September following months of powerful gains that returned the S&P 500 to a record. The benchmark S&P 500 index is down 5.3% so far this month, while the Nasdaq is off nearly 7%.

A long list of concerns for investors has caused big swings in the market, from worries that stocks have grown too expensive to frustration about Congress’ refusal so far to deliver more aid to the struggling economy.

“Right now it’s kind of reality is setting in, looking at valuations and realizing that coronavirus is still prevalent, we don’t have a vaccine, and we don’t know who’s going to be in the White House in 2021,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest.

The uneasy trading continued early Tuesday as stock indexes swung from small gains to losses through the morning before steadying by afternoon. Tech stocks in the S&P 500 bounced between a gain of 1.7% and a loss of 0.4%, for example.

Big Tech stocks have lost momentum this month on worries their stocks grew too expensive following a supersonic run through the pandemic.