Market drifts lower as most stocks fall

Some major company gains limit overall Wall Street loss

NEW YORK — Wall Street drifted through a quiet day of mixed trading Tuesday, where most stocks fell but a handful of influential companies kept the losses in check.

The S&P 500 slipped 7.04 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,756.50 to follow up its best day in nearly two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 157.85, or

0.4 percent, to 37,525.16, and the Nasdaq composite rose 13.94, or 0.1 percent, to 14,857.71.

Eversource Energy tumbled 7.7 percent for one of the worst losses in the

S&P 500 after it said it could face a hit of up to $1.6 billion against its results for the end of 2023. It’s negotiating the sale of its stake in three offshore wind projects.

Unity Software fell 8 percent after it said it will cut about a quarter of its workforce, or 1,800 positions.

Boeing also fell again, but not by as much as Monday, the first trading day after one of its jets flying for Alaska Airlines suffered an in-flight blowout over Oregon.

Its stock lost 1.4 percent after tumbling 8 percent Monday.

On the winning side of Wall Street, Illumina gained 4.5 percent after the biotechnology company said it expects to report stronger revenue for the end of 2023 than analysts had forecast. Urban Outfitters jumped 7.7 percent after it said total sales at its stores, including Anthropologie, strengthened by 10 percent during the final two months of the year from 2022 levels.

Nvidia, meanwhile, rose 1.7 percent to set an alltime high for a second straight day.

It has been riding a wave of excitement that its chips will stay in huge demand thanks to the boom around artificial intelligence technology.

A 1.5 percent gain for Amazon, another one of Wall Street’s titans, also helped to limit the losses for the S&P 500, though seven out of 10 stocks in the index fell.

Financial markets have had a slow start to the year after roaring into the end of 2023.

The S&P 500 had leaped to nine straight winning weeks to close out the year, mostly on rising hope that the U.S. economy will remain resilient and the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates through 2024.

Treasury yields have slid on anticipation of rate cuts, and they held relatively steady on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.02 percent from 4.01 percent late Monday.