US close: S&P 500 hits another record high, Apple up after earnings beat
Wall Street stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday as investors pushed the S&P 500 to a fresh high for the third straight session ahead of the US central bank's policy meeting on Wednesday.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.15% at 26,592.91, while the S&P 500 was 0.10% firmer at 2,945.83. The Nasdaq Composite, however, closed 0.66% weaker at 8,107.77 as shares in the likes of Amazon and Apple weighed on the index.
The Dow closed 38 points higher as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday and although no changes in policy were anticipated there was an ongoing debate as to whether a rate cut was in the cards for later in the year.
Polls by Reuters and Bloomberg showed few economists anticipating such a move, but Fed funds futures were pricing in just under 70% odds of a cut at the December FOMC.
On the corporate front, General Electric shares closed 4.63% higher after revealing a smaller-than-expected profit and earnings drop, while Pfizer was up 2.55% at the end of the session after raising its full-year guidance.
Shares in Merck were 2.53% higher after raising the top-end of its EPS and revenue guidance and General Motors stock lost 2.70% throughout the day as fears surrounding its market share offset an earnings beat.
Mastercard was ahead 2.84% at the close after beating estimates for quarterly profit thanks to a boom in online shopping, while McDonald's inched ahead 0.25% on the back of a bacon-driven sales jump.
While Apple shares weighed on the Nasdaq during trading, the Californian outfit shot up 5.59% in extended hours as the tech giant's quarterly revenues of $57.5bn beat consensus estimates on the Street. EPS also came in ahead of expectations at $2.46 but were still down on the $2.73 recorded twelve months earlier.
Revenue from iPhones came to $31.05bn, down from the $38.03bn the company hit a year ago but ahead of the $30.5bn analysts were expecting.
The iPhone's chipmaker AMD also surged in after-hours trading on the back of its own earnings beat.
On the data front, national home prices increased 4% in February, according to the latest reading on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index.
The 10-City Composite rose 2.6% year-on-year, down from 3.1% in January, while the 20-City Composite posted a 3% annual gain, also down from the 3.5% posted a month earlier.
"Home sales drifted down over the last year except for a one-month pop in February 2019," said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Meanwhile, a closely-followed leading indicator for the health of the US housing market perked up last month.
The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales index jumped by 3.8% month-on-month in March to reach 105.8 (consensus: 1.0%), with contract signings growing by 1.2% in comparison to a year ago.
"We are seeing a positive sentiment from consumers about home buying, as mortgage applications have been steadily increasing and mortgage rates are extremely favourable," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
Elsewhere, consumer confidence bounced back in April, suggesting the economy was likely to keep growing solidly throughout the summer.
The consumer confidence index rose to 129.2 from 124.2, according to the Conference Board, indicating that consumers seem to feel pretty good about the state of the US economy over the next six months.
Lastly, manufacturing activity in the area around Chicago, which is heavily geared towards the fortunes of jetmaker Boeing, slowed sharply in April.
Market News International's factory sector Purchasing Managers' Index dropped by 6.1 points to 52.6, missing economists' forecasts for a reading of 59.0 and hitting its lowest level since January 2017.