US stocks notch another gain and new record on narrow rally
The S&P 500 eked out another closing record and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%, while the Russell 2000 slumped 0.7% on Tuesday.
The benchmark US stock index rose for back-to-back sessions despite once again having more constituents that declined than advanced. The narrow, small rally saw technology and communication services as the only two S&P sectors to go positive on the day. Utilities and financials were the largest decliners.
Despite the strong showing from tech, two semiconductor companies were at the bottom of the S&P 500 leaderboard. Intel slumped 6.1% as markets continue to doubt the company’s turnaround prospects following the exit of its CEO. Microchip Technology tumbled 7% after announcing it was shuttering a factory in Arizona due to weak demand.
On the other side of the spectrum, Palantir was the best-performing S&P 500 stock, gaining 6.9% after enhancing its ability to sell cloud services to the US government.
AT&T rose 4.6% after authorizing a $20 billion share buyback plan.