U.S. Stocks Close Mostly Lower But Nasdaq Ends Higher

Stocks indexes on Wall Street closed mostly lower Tuesday, though solid gains by Apple, Facebook, and other tech heavyweights helped nudge the Nasdaq to another all-time high, Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga reported for the Associated Press (AP.)

Photo Insert: Nasdaq Marketsite, Times Square, NYC

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, losing some ground after two straight weekly gains. Roughly 80% of companies in the benchmark index fell. Industrial and health care stocks were among the S&P 500′s biggest decliners.

Household goods makers also weighed on the index, offsetting gains in communication services firms, technology stocks, and a mix of companies that rely on consumer spending.

Small-company stocks also fell broadly. Treasury yields rose, while energy futures and the price of gold fell. The pullback in stocks came as traders returned from the Labor Day holiday weekend to a relatively light week of economic data.

The last big economic snapshot, the August jobs report, came in weaker than expected last Friday, but stocks only slipped modestly on the news.

“We’re still kind of digesting Friday’s weak job number and the potential impact that might have with the economy,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for LPL Financial. The S&P 500 fell 15.40 points to 4,520.03.

The index remains within 0.4% of the all-time high it set last Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 269.09 points, or 0.8%, to 35,100, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 10.81 points, or 0.1%, to 15,374.33, its fourth consecutive record high.

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