Stocks – S&P Pulls Back as Investors Take Some Profits Ahead of Fed

Investing.com – The big stock market rally lost some steam Tuesday as four days of sizable gains produced the inevitable profit-taking.

Technology shares, especially giants like Apple (NASDAQ:), Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:), led the pullback.

The hit a new intraday high of 3,047.87 early in the session but pulled back to a 0.08% loss.

The dropped a modest 0.07%. The slid 0.59% and the index fell 0.78%.

Alphabet’s earnings miss on Monday was probably the biggest reason for the tech pullback. But Apple, down 2.3%, had the bigger impact on the Dow and especially the Nasdaq 100. The decline cut 39 points from the Dow and nearly 22 points from the Nasdaq 100.

Apple (NASDAQ:) reports fiscal-fourth-quarter results after Wednesday’s close. Analyst estimates compiled by Investing.com project of $2.83 a share, down slightly from a year ago. Revenue is estimated at $62.9 billion, up 2.4%. But the fiscal first quarter is the biggest revenue and profit generator.

It also looked as if traders were surprised by a report that the phase one U.S.-China Trade Deal might not be ready when President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping meet next month in Chile.

Part of the malaise also was the inevitable uncertainty ahead of a Federal Reserve rate decision due Wednesday at 2 PM ET (18:00 GMT). Wall Street believes a rate cut is coming. Investing.com’s puts the odds of a quarter-point cut to at 97.3%.

There was some ugly selling in Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:), down 22.2% and Grubhub (NYSE:), of 43%, on weak results and, especially in the case of GrubHub, weak guidance.

There was some excitement on a Wall Street Journal report that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:) is in merger talks with French automaker Peugeot (OTC:). Fiat Chrysler was up about 7.5%.

And supplying some additional support to the market was strength in healthcare, materials and energy stocks.

Gold fell modestly $1,490.70 an ounce. crude fell 27 cents to $55.54. crude was up 2 cents to $61.59.

Interest rates dipped lower with the Treasury yield dropping to 1.835% from Monday’s 1.853%.

Oil-and-gas equipment supplier National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:), Xerox (NYSE:), consumer products maker Leggett & Platt (NYSE:) and hospital operator HCA Holdings (NYSE:) were among the top performers on the day.

S&P laggards were led by fiber-laser maker IPG Photonics, water-heater maker AO Smith(NYSE:), oil-and-gas producer TechnipFMC (NYSE:) and supermarket giant Kroger (NYSE:).

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.