Late day tech rally leaves stocks mixed at close

U.S. stocks closed mixed, with Apple Inc. leading a late afternoon rally in tech shares that helped offset a drop in industrials sparked by weak production data. The dollar registered its biggest advance in more than a week and Treasuries fell.

“You might be having a little bit of buy on the dip activity,” said Matt Schreiber, president and chief investment strategist at WBI Investments. “If you’re actually following the fundamentals, you’d be putting money to work in the sectors where companies are printing good earnings and revenue.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined for a third day as U.S. manufacturing expanded at its slowest pace since July. Tech companies including Apple — which reports earnings after the close — bucked the downward trend, pushing the Nasdaq higher. Ten-year Treasury yields gained but remained below 3 percent as the greenback posted its ninth gain in 11 days, with that strength weighing on most commodities: Oil retreated and gold declined to its lowest price since December.

Sterling slumped after U.K. manufacturing slowed more than predicted. That spurred the FTSE, one of the few European equity gauges trading, to rise a fourth day. Broader European benchmarks were flat, as businesses warned of market uncertainty following the Trump administration’s decision to delay U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.

Markets were shut for holidays in countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and India.

A big focus this week is likely to be central bank policy and economic data. Investors will watch the Federal Reserve meeting closely for any signals that policy makers will raise interest rates another three times this year.