US stocks closed just shy of record highs on Tuesday after a seesaw session which saw investors brush off depressed oil prices.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 2,212 - its third straight day of gains and within nudging distance of its record high of 2,214.10.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.2% at 19,251 and 23 points off the record high struck on Monday.
The S&P 500 market bellwether was led higher by Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK), up 7.2% to $76.32.
The largest US-listed stock Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was unfazed after the US Supreme Court threw out a $399mln patent damages award against Samsung to Apple, in a unanimous decision in favour of the Korean electronics group and against the iPhone maker.
The five-year-old case between the two smartphone market leaders, which Samsung appealed to the top US court a year ago, will continue after the decision, after the justices ordered the lower US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the basis upon which the damages were calculated.
Apple shares closed up 0.8% $109.95.
The S&P Midcap 400 ended up 0.9% at 1658 and led by Avon Products (NYSE:AVP) up 8.95% to $5.72.
The S&P Smallcap 600 ended up 1.1% at 832 and led by Francesca's Holdings (NASDAQ:FRAN) up 28.8% to $20.01
Open
US stocks were softer on Tuesday after opening higher and then sliding as the oil price decline intensified.
The S&P 500 market bellwether was down 0.02% at 2204 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average which on Monday struck intraday and closing level highs made the same gyration and was down 0.1% at 19,198 after hitting session high of 19,231.
The West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, was down 2.5% to $50.48 after news that OPEC supply has continued to rise unchecked and damping the optimism about the cartel managing to curb supply by 1.2 mln barrels a day as it declared last week in a historic summit.
Even news of stronger-than-forecast durable goods failed to lift the market.
A core measure of US spending on durable goods only climbed modestly last month, but headline orders for durable goods jumped signalling that the US manufacturing continues to hum along.
The final reading for headline orders for durable goods, a measure of business investment, jumped 4.6% in October from the previous month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. That topped economists’ expectations for a 3.4% gain.
Leading the declines on the S&P 500 was Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG), down 5.7% to $374.38.
The stock, already reeling from a prestigious investor – Swiss National Bank - cutting its stake in the burrito chain in the third quarter, even as investor BlackRock made a sizeable buy of the stock in the same period, SEC filings showed, eased further as the company readied to announce a board shake-up. Meanwhile, co-CEO Steve Ells admitted at a Barclays conference he has concerns about Chipotle’s ability to recovery from the food safety disaster last year and hit ambitious 2017 sales goals in what has become a protracted sales decline.
The S&P Midcap 400 was down 0.1% at 1641 and led by pharma Akorn Inc (NASDAQ:AKRX), down 5.2% at $19.17 after news emerged that the stock was downgraded by equities research analysts at RBC Capital Markets to a “sector perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.
The S&P Smallcap 600 was down 0.2% at 822 and led by Barnes & Noble Education Inc (NYSE:BNED) down 16.6% to $9.67 disappointed investors with its second-quarter earnings.
One of the largest contract operators of bookstores on college and university campuses across the United States and a leading provider of digital education services, Barnes & Noble reported sales of $770.7mln, an increase of 2.0%. Both second quarter and year to date comparable store sales decreased 2.9%.
Pre-view
US stocks are expected to open higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average set to build on its record high struck the previous session.
Although the Dow ended at a record high close of 19,216.24, off its intraday record high of 19,274.85.
The S&P 500 future was indicated up 0.2%.
Data this morning might stem the gains on Wall Street after the US trade deficit swelled in October, reversing some of the narrowing that boosted American economic output during the third quarter.
The trade gap rose in October to $42.6bn, from $36.2bn in September. The figure was slightly larger than the $42bn that Wall Street economists had forecast.
A rise in exports, that economists attributed largely to one-time factors like a jolt higher in soybean exports, had provided a significant tailwind to US third-quarter gross domestic product. But that impact showed some signs of waning as the final three months of the year got underway.
Also cramping gains was the oil price. The WTI was down 2.3% to $50.50 after overnight news that OPEC output is continuing to rise – just a week after the cartel promised to cut it by 1.2mln barrels a day.
In company news, Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) said it will buy two dozen data centres from Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), the US telecoms group, for $3.6bn.
The all-cash deal consists of 29 data centre buildings across 15 metropolitan areas, spanning from Bogotá to New York.
Equinix shares were up 2.4% at $339.99 pre-market. But Verizon was up just 0.5% at $50.00.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is considering at least three formats for brick-and-mortar food stores. That news follows Amazon's unveiling of its "Amazon GO" store format, featuring no cash registers, no lines, and a "grab-and-go" method of shopping.
Amazon shares were up 0.4% at $762.71.
Ford Motor (NYSE:F) is raising $2.8bn in new long-term financing, its first foray into the debt market in nearly four years. The company plans to use the proceeds to fund investment in new automotive technologies. Ford shares were up 0.4% at $12.49
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that Apple Watch sales to consumers set a record during the first week of holiday sales. Apple shares were up 1% at $110.22.