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The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average moved higher on Tuesday, backed by the energy stocks and reports of March-quarter earnings that topped the modest expectations of the economists but did minimal to lower the concerns about the strong US dollar.
Shares of Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other energy firms followed crude higher after a forecast that May’s US shale oil output would record its first monthly fall in over four years. The S&P 500 energy index surged 1.95 percent.
Johnson & Johnson slashed its full-year forecast on the grounds of the impact of a strong greenback, even though the adjusted earnings topped the expectations. The shares of the Dow component gained 0.29 percent.
Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at New York-based Solaris Group, said, “Expectations are low, primarily because of economic weakness during the first quarter related to weather, the strong dollar, the West Coast dock strike and oil prices.”
At 1:02 pm, the S&P 500 edged up 3.42 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,095.85 and the Dow Jones industrial average surged 78.46 points, or 0.44 percent, to 18,055.5. The Nasdaq Composite declined 15.63 points, or 0.31 percent, to 4,972.62.
The shares of Chevron jumped 1.97 percent, while Exxon’s shares increased 2.22 percent.
The shares of Alcatel increased 12.18 percent to USD 4.88, while the US shares of Nokia dropped 4.21 percent to USD 7.95.
On the NYSE, the advancing issues outnumbered the declining ones by 1,842 to 1,099, for a 1.68-to-1 ratio. 1,404 issues dropped and 1,211 advanced, for a 1.16-to-1 ratio favoring decliners on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 was recording three new 52-week highs and no new lows. On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite was posting 57 new highs and 22 new lows.
