Slumping tech favorites pull major U.S. stock indexes lower

Wall Street jostled to a mixed finish Tuesday, as former stalwarts ran out of momentum and some of the market’s most beatendown stocks turned into winners.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.5% after stocks that have held up the best through this year’s sell-off fell to some of the market’s sharpest drops. They included health care companies, big tech titans and winners of the stay-at-home economy, such as Netflix and Amazon.

Those are big companies, which give their movements outsized effect on the S&P 500. But nearly twice as many stocks rose in the index than fell. Among the winners were travel companies, shopping-mall owners and other businesses that got hammered after widespread stay-at-home orders locked away their customers. Some U.S. states and nations around the world are gradually lifting restrictions implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

All the washing around left the S&P 500 with a loss of 15.09 points to 2,863.39, its first in three days. The index was up as much as 1.5% early in the morning before it quickly gave out, and the index spent much of the day flipping between small gains and losses.

It coincided with another wild day for oil prices, where a barrel of U.S. oil for delivery in June fell close to $10 before paring its losses, as swelling supplies continue to far exceed demand.

The fluctuations are a sign of a market still dominated by uncertainty about how the recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak will play out, said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.

“The market is kind of biding its time, in a sense, and waiting to see what happens with regard to the virus itself,” he said. “Because the thing that matters the most to stocks is how much longer is this going to last. And sure, we can reopen, but how slow is that going to be? And even if it becomes more rapid, is there going to be a second wave or a resurgence” of infections?

Like the stocks within the market, the day’s leaderboard for U.S. indexes was close to a mirror opposite of their performance for the year so far.

The Nasdaq, which is dominated by big tech stocks and is the only major U.S. index up over the last year, fell 122.43, or 1.4%, to 8,607.73. The Russell 2000, which got beat up more than the rest of the market on worries about small companies’ financial strength, climbed 16.20, or 1.3%, to 1,298.08.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 32.23 points, or 0.1%, to 24,101.55. It, like other indexes, gave up its gains after a report in the morning showed U.S. consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in nearly six years.

With massive aid in place for the economy from central banks and governments, stocks have been building higher in recent weeks on anticipation that stay-at-home orders will gradually lift as infections level off in some hard-hit areas. Even though data continues to pile up showing the devastation hitting the economy following worldwide orders for businesses to shut down, some investors are looking past it to the prospect of a return of growth in the future.

“Hope is trumping caution this week so far,” said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management.

Harley-Davidson jumped 15.2% after laying out plans to slash costs and preserve cash, including a cut of its dividend and a halt to its stock buyback program. Norwegian Cruise Line rose 14.4%, and Kimco Realty, which owns shopping centers, added 9.1%

Companies whose fortunes are tied most closely to the strength of the economy were also leading the way. Energy stocks rose 2.2% for the biggest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500. Raw material producers were close behind with a gain of 2%.

On the opposite side was Netflix, which set record highs recently as viewers around the world remained stuck at home. It slipped 4.2%. Other stay-at-home winners also fell, including a 2.6% drop for Amazon and a 1.1% dip for Clorox, whose disinfecting wipes have seen a surge in demand.

Many professional investors are skeptical of the stock market’s big rally, which has driven the S&P 500 up 28% since hitting a low late last month. Besides the possibility that premature reopenings of economies could lead to another wave of infections, they’re wary of how quickly stocks have risen — nearly as fast as they had earlier dropped in anticipation of a severe recession.

The economy’s recovery may drag for a while as people tiptoe back to “normal” life and shopping patterns. That disconnect between a quick rebound for stocks and a potentially slower recovery for the economy could cause a reckoning later on.

Treasury yields, which had sent warning signals about the disastrous economic effects of the pandemic long before the stock market did, were down.