Stocks mixed as regulators seek J&J vaccine pause

NEW YORK — A choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended with indexes mixed Tuesday as a drop in bond yields hurt bank stocks but helped big technology companies.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after briefly slipping into the red in the early going. The modest gain nudged the benchmark index to an all-time high. Technology stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending helped lift the broad market index. The gains were tempered by a pullback in banks, industrial companies and other stocks.

Johnson & Johnson fell 1.3% after U.S. regulators recommended a pause in using its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of possibly dangerous blood clots. Moderna, which also makes a COVID-19 vaccine, climbed 7.4%.

Worries about the potential loss of a vaccine option also pulled down companies that are counting on pandemic restrictions easing, though the losses eased by the end of the day. American Airlines slipped 1.5% and Delta Air Lines fell 1.1%.

The broader market has been mostly notching gains this month, reflecting cautious optimism among investors that the economy will strengthen and corporate profits will improve as the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine paves the way for businesses to more fully reopen. A pause in the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine isn’t going to derail that, analysts said.

“The response today has been very muted and isolated,” said Scott Knapp, chief market strategist at CUNA Mutual Group. “Markets don’t expect lockdowns. The recovery may be delayed, but not a return to pandemic conditions.”

The market’s initial sell-off on the J&J news was “a bit of an overreaction,” said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Management.