A currency trader passes by screens showing foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Asian shares mostly rose on Tuesday, cheered by a rally to all-time highs on Wall Street, though worries over the slow pace of coronavirus vaccinations in the region were weighing on sentiment.
A currency trader talks with her colleague at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Asian shares mostly rose on Tuesday, cheered by a rally to all-time highs on Wall Street, though worries over the slow pace of coronavirus vaccinations in the region were weighing on sentiment.
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Asian shares mostly rose on Tuesday, cheered by a rally to all-time highs on Wall Street, though worries over the slow pace of coronavirus vaccinations in the region were weighing on sentiment.
FILE – In this Nov. 23, 2020 file photo, a street sign is displayed at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Stocks were mixed in early trading on Monday, March 15, 2021, as investors sifted a mixed bag of data from China. Wall Street continues to eye the bond market, where yields gave back some of last week’s gains.
FILE – This Nov. 23, 2020 file photo shows the New York Stock Exchange, right, in New York. Stocks were mixed in early trading Tuesday, March 16, 2021, as Wall Street looked to match its longest winning streak of the year.
In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, Craig Spector, right, works with fellow traders on the floor, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Stocks were mixed in afternoon trading Tuesday after Wall Street hit a new high the day before. Investors continue to closely watch the bond market, with even minute changes in bond yields causing stocks to fluctuate.
Wall Street capped a choppy day of trading Tuesday with stock indexes closing mostly lower after coming within striking distance of matching the market’s longest winning streak of the year.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2% after wobbling between small gains and losses most of the day. The modest pullback snapped the benchmark index’s five-day winning streak. A sixth-day of gains would have matched the S&P 500’s longest winning streak so far this year, though the index remains near its all-time high.
Losses by banks, industrial stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending, including cruise line operators, pulled the market lower, outweighing gains by Big Tech and communication services stocks. Energy stocks, the S&P 500’s biggest gainers so far this year, took the brunt of the losses as crude oil prices fell.
Stocks’ uneven finish came as investors continue to closely watch the bond market, with even minute changes in bond yields causing stocks to fluctuate. Bond yields also wavered Tuesday. The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, inched up to 1.62%.
“The 10-year is remaining above 1.60%,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “So, investors are in a sense girding themselves for higher inflation.”
The S&P 500 dropped 6.23 points to 3,962.71. Earlier, it had been up 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 127.51 points, or 0.4%, to 32,825.95. The Nasdaq bucked the trend, benefiting from the rally in technology stocks. The tech-heavy index gained 11.86 points, or 0.1%, to 13,471.57.
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