US stocks gave back most or all of their record heights on Tuesday as oil prices wiped out more than two weeks of gains.
The S&P 500 market bellwether finished flat at 2293. Earlier it marked a record high of 2,299.40.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.2% at 20,090. Intraday it marked a record high of 20,155.35.
Similarly, the Nasdaq Composite retained a fraction of the day’s gains, ending up 0.2% at 5674. Earlier it marked a record high of 5,689.60.
West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, was down 1.7% to $52.12 a barrel, while global marker Brent slipped by 1.5% to $54.90. These are their lowest levels since January 19.
The retreat comes amid rising concerns that American drillers are poised to ramp up productions following the recent rally in crude prices.
Among stocks, however, the biggest faller wasn’t an oil stock but fashion house Michael Kors Holdings (NYSE:KORS) down 10.8% at $36.81 after reporting weak holiday sales. It was an irony that Gap (NYSE:GPS) which reported bumper sales and its shares rose pre-market, should also succumb to the general malaise in retail fashion stocks. Gap shares closed down 1% at $22.74.
The S&P Midcap 400 closed down 0.3% at 1693. Just like the S&P 500 the mid-cap losers were led by a fashion house. Fossil Group (NASDAQ:FOSL) ended down 7.3% at $23.75 after brokerage firm Evercore ISI Group downgraded its rating on Fossil. The shares have been rated Hold. Previously, the analysts had a Buy rating.
Meanwhile, the S&P Smallcap 600 closed down 0.4% at 830 and led by Northern Oil And Gas (AMEX:NOG) down 9.6% to $3.08. UK oil giant BP’s poorly received earnings report on Tuesday rubbed off on stocks like Northern Oil, already reeling from falling oil prices.
Early trading
The trio of major US stock tickers punched fresh record highs shortly after the Tuesday opening.
Industrial companies were leading the way higher on the day, with real estate and technology groups also posting modest gains. Meanwhile, energy shares fell for the second day in a row as the price of crude oil dropped.
The gains came in the face of recent analyst prognoses that the rally inspired by US President Donald Trump was coming to a halt and that gains were all priced in.
The &P 500 market bellwether hit a fresh high at 2299.40 and was last up 0.2% at 2297. The top gainer was Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) up 6.3% at $67.62 after coverage was resumed by brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald at “Overweight” on Tuesday and set the price target at $85.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average marked a record high of 20,155.35 and was last up 0.4% at 20,137.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit a record high of 5,680.11 and was last up 0.3% at 5678.
The S&P Midcap 400 was up 0.2% at 1703 and led by real estate consultant Jones Lang Lasalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) up 5.7% at $109.80. The company reported fourth-quarter 2016 adjusted earnings of $3.95 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.92. However, the bottom line came in lower than the fourth-quarter 2015 adjusted earnings of $4.61 per share.
The S&P Smallcap 600 was up 0.3% at 836 and led by electronics group Cts Corp (NYSE:CTS) up 8.5% at $23.00 after the company said it made a profit of $0.29 Earnings per Share for the quarter. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations-beating the analyst consensus estimate by $0.05. Analysts had a consensus of $0.24.
For full-year 2016, adjusted earnings per share came in at $8.13, down from the 2015 figure of $10.20.
Markets had been roiled earlier this week by worries about oil supply. The West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, was recently down 1.5% to $52.21 a barrel. The fall was driven by concerns that a sustained period of higher oil prices will encourage US drillers to pump oil more aggressively, counteracting some of the supply relief provided by the agreement between OPEC nations and several other major exporters, including Russia.
Pre-Open
US stocks are expected to bounce back on Tuesday from a lower close the previous session when oil supply fears set in as a slew of improved earnings buoy the market.
The S&P 500 market bellwether and Dow Jones Industrial Average are expected to open 0.3% higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 0.2%, according to futures trading.
Shares in Gap (NYSE:GPS) are rising in extended trading after the firm reported better-than-expected holiday sales. Gap shares were up 2.2% at $23.48 pre-market.
It was steady news from General Motors (NYSE:GM) in the US – the eye of the storm where the company was recently savaged by US President Donald Trump over its plans to continue with car manufacture in Mexico.
Certainly, post-election US consumer confidence helped GM beat market expectations for its fourth quarter results but Brexit-related foreign currency losses meant the automaker missed its goal of recording a profit in Europe.
For the three months to end of December, net income came it at $1.8bn, or 71% below the year earlier figure, due to foreign currency factors and a one-time tax gain in the year earlier period.
As a result, GM shares were down 1.3% at $36.35 pre-market.
Data was expected to offer some respite for battle-weary investors. The US trade deficit narrowed in December to the lowest level in three months, data released on Tuesday showed.
The gap fell to $44.3bn in December, from $45.7bn in the previous month, marking the slimmest level since October, according to the Commerce Department. Wall Street economists had forecast a slightly higher reading of $45bn.