Stocks turn lower after surging to record
Stocks turn lower after surging to record

By Jonathan Garber FOXBusiness

S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new highs.

Stocks slumped into negative territory Tuesday after hitting record highs earlier in the session following strong housing data and better-than-expected retail earnings.

The S&P 500 climbed as much as 0.39% in the opening minutes of trading, eclipsing its intraday high of 3,393.52, before turning lower. The benchmark index needs to finish above 3,386.15 to close at a record peak.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite gained as much as 0.7%, touching its own record high, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.17% before both indexes fell into negative territory.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
SP500S&P 5003383.51+1.52+0.04%
I:COMPNASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX11179.462422+49.74+0.45%
I:DJIDOW JONES AVERAGES27802.78-42.13-0.15%

Looking at the economy, housing starts rose 23% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.496 million, beating the 1.24 million that was anticipated by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Building permits, meanwhile, climbed 19% to 1.495 million, ahead of the 1.32 million that was expected.

BUFFETT, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INVESTMENT IS ‘ULTIMATE PRIVILEGE’: BARRICK GOLD CEO

The results sent shares of homebuilders, like Toll Brothers Inc., Pulte Group and Lennar Corp. higher.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
TOLTOLL BROTHERS43.02+0.88+2.08%
PHMPULTE CORPORATION47.11+0.68+1.46%
LENLENNAR78.08+1.01+1.31%

On the earnings front, Dow component Home Depot Inc. reported better-than-expected top and bottom lines as U.S. comparable sales rose 25% from a year ago.

Fellow Dow member Walmart Inc. said online sales rose 97% versus last year, helping drive a 79% jump in profit.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
HDTHE HOME DEPOT INC.285.18-3.06-1.06%
WMTWALMART INC.133.84-1.75-1.29%
BJBJS WHSL CLUB HLDGS INC43.25+0.48+1.12%
BABAALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD258.33+1.37+0.53%

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. and Alibaba Group are among the companies reporting ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell.

Meanwhile, Boeing job cuts will extend beyond its initial plan to eliminate 10% of its workforce. The company is offering workers, mostly in its commercial airplanes unit, services division and corporate operation, a second voluntary layoff opportunity.

Oracle is in talks to acquire the U.S., Canadian, Australian and New Zealand assets of the social-media app TikTok from Chinese owner ByteDance, according to CNBC, citing a person familiar with the matter.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
BABOEING COMPANY169.87-2.14-1.24%
ORCLORACLE CORPORATION55.50+1.51+2.80%
TSLATESLA INC.1,905.10+69.46+3.78%

Elsewhere, Tesla shares continued to zoom higher, and were trading above $1,900 apiece for the first time.

Looking at commodities, gold climbed $21.50 to $2,020.20 an ounce while West Texas Intermediate crude oil slid 72 cents to $42.16 a barrel.

U.S. Treasurys were little changed with the yield on the 10-year note holding near 0.68%.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was trading up 0.34% while France’s CAC and Britain’s FTSE fell 0.07% and 0.34%, respectively.

Asian markets finished mixed with China’s Shanghai Composite adding 0.36%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edging up 0.08% and Japan’s Nikkei slipping 0.2%.

NH POLITICIAN is owned and operated by USNN World News Corporation, a New Hampshire based media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information, local,...