By Chibuike Oguh
(Reuters) – Wall Street stocks were mixed on Tuesday as Treasury yields climbed, with investors weighing the likely path of interest rates in a resilient U.S. economy with persistent inflation.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday recent inflation data has not given policymakers enough confidence to ease credit soon, noting that the U.S. central bank may need to keep rates higher for longer than previously thought.
The got a boost from UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:)’s better-than-expected quarterly results.
“People are trying to balance this two-sided narrative: U.S. economic growth, which looks really good, and at the same time the inflation picture and interest rates, which will eventually be problematic for the equity market,” said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Sierra Mutual Funds in California.
A report on Monday showed retail sales grew more than expected in March, a sign of U.S. economic resilience that helped push benchmark to five-month highs on Tuesday.
As of 02:49 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86.69 points, or 0.23%, to 37,821.80, the lost 3.82 points, or 0.08%, to 5,058.00 and the gained 2.13 points, or 0.01%, to 15,886.66.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are nearly 4% off from record high levels reached last month.
Shares of Morgan Stanley added 3.7% after its first-quarter profit beat estimates on resurging income from investment banking.
Bank of America dropped 3.9% after the lender posted lower first-quarter profits as its loan loss provisions grew.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) slipped 1.6% as the drugmaker’s revenue missed analysts’ estimates after sales from its blockbuster psoriasis drug, Stelara, fell short of expectations.
Tesla (NASDAQ:) shed 2.7%, a day after falling over 5% on news that the EV marker plans to lay off more than 10% of its global workforce.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.42-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, which had 16 new highs and 154 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 1,487 stocks rose and 2,641 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.78-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and eight new lows while the Nasdaq recorded 27 new highs and 329 new lows.
