The Dow Jones Industrial Average breached the 23,000-mark for the first time on Tuesday, driven by strong earnings from UnitedHealth and Johnson & Johnson, but the S&P 500 was flat.
The blue-chip index has surpassed four similar 1,000-point milestones this year, indicating investor faith in the bull-run despite lofty stock valuations. For a factbox, see
But the Dow was unable to hold the level and has been trading below 23,000 for much of the afternoon.
"My view is it may take several days or a couple of weeks before it can sustain a level above 23,000," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York.
"Right now, we`re contending with earnings season, and the fact that the market has run up, leading up to the earnings season."
The S&P 500 was flat, with financials the biggest drag.
Goldman Sachs
Shares of the largest U.S. health insurer UnitedHealth
That, along with a 3.6 percent rise in Johnson & Johnson
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.dji> was up 29.42 points, or 0.13 percent, at 22,986.38, after briefly hitting the 23,000 mark earlier.
The S&P 500 <.spx> gained 0.14 points, or 0.01 percent, to 2,557.78 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 3.89 points, or 0.06 percent, to 6,620.11.
Netflix
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.51-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.77-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
01:13 AM IST