U.S. stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday, led by gains in energy, mining and financial companies.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index eked out small gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed modestly lower, reflecting a slump in technology stocks, which were dragged down by Netflix and IBM.
The gains in energy and mining companies came as prices for oil, copper and other basic materials rose.
Investors were mostly focused on the latest batch of corporate earnings and on what company managers have to say about their prospects for growing profits this year.
“The market is focused on where we are going to be three months from now, five months from now,†said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. “It’s all about the guidance, and it’s also all about what companies are doing to beat on the bottom line.â€
The Dow rose 49.44 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,053.60. The S&P 500 index gained 6.46 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,100.80. The Nasdaq fell 19.69 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,940.33.
Expectations for earnings are low this quarter, with corporate profits for companies in the S&P 500 projected to be down 8.1 percent, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Even excluding the beaten-down energy sector, earnings growth for the S&P 500 companies is expected to be down 3.4 percent.
All of the earnings growth this year is expected to come in the second half of 2016, noted Erin Gibbs, equity chief investment officer at S&P Global Market Intelligence.