US close: Dow retreats on insurer slide, tech lifts S&P 500 and Nasdaq

(Sharecast News) - Major indices delivered a mixed performance on Tuesday as insurers weighed on the Dow and the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting got underway.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.83% at 49,003.41, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.41% to 6,978.60 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.91% firmer at 23,817.10.

The Dow closed 408.99 points lower on Tuesday, more than reversing gains recorded in the previous session, while the S&P 500 rose to a new all-time intraday high on the back of gains in the big-tech sector.

Donald Trump's tariff war was in focus after he said late on Monday that tariffs on South Korean automobiles, pharmaceuticals and lumber would rise from 15% to 25%, citing delays in the country's legislature ratifying a trade agreement reached with the US last summer.

In the corporate space, multiple major US health insurers came under heavy pressure after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed a net average payment increase of just 0.09% for Medicare Advantage plans in 2027. Humana slumped more than 21%, while CVS Health dropped over 14%.

In terms of earnings, UnitedHealth posted a modest earnings beat on Tuesday, despite taking a $1.6bn restructuring hit, but issued some soft revenue guidance for the current year, while UPS topped quarterly expectations and issued upbeat revenue guidance for FY26 on the back of a shift to higher-value shipments, and General Motors reported Q4 adjusted earnings growth despite a 5% drop in revenues.

Elsewhere, Kimberly-Clark said Q4 adjusted earnings had come in ahead of expectations, Northrop Grumman reported increased quarterly profits on the back of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, and Union Pacific missed Q4 estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

American Airlines reported a Q4 earnings miss that was a direct result of the Federal Government shutdown, but issued some upbeat revenue guidance despite taking a $200m hit from a historic winter storm, while Boeing booked $23.9bn in Q4 revenues as sales jumped 57% year-on-year.

On the macro front, private sector employment increased by 41,000 in December, according to ADP's employment change figures, following a revised 29,000 loss in November and slightly below forecasts of a 47,000.

On another note, US home prices were little changed in November, according to the S&P CoreLogic CaseShiller National Home Price Index, with elevated mortgage rates continuing to weigh on demand. Home prices edged down 0.1% on the month, matching October's decline, but were 1.4% higher yearonyear. The 10city composite rose 0.1% in November, while the 20city index was unchanged.

Still on data, US consumer confidence slumped in January, according to the Conference Board, dropping to its weakest level since 2014 and falling below the lows seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell 9.7 points to 84.5, down from a revised 94.2 in December, while the prior month's reading was revised up by 5.1 points, turning what had initially appeared to be a decline into a modest gain. However, January's preliminary figures showed sentiment deteriorating again after December's brief uptick.

Finally, the Richmond Federal Reserve's manufacturing index increased to -6 points in January from -7 points in December. Shipments increased to 5 from 11 and new orders increased slightly to 6 from 8, while employment decreased to 6 from 1.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $480.58 2.19%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $78.68 2.17%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $73.55 1.36%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $224.46 1.33%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $258.27 1.12%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $169.05 0.93%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $107.92 0.48%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $638.98 0.47%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $351.32 0.47%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $313.82 0.38%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $282.70 -19.61%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $63.09 -2.92%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $380.91 -1.60%

Boeing Co. (BA) $244.56 -1.56%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $27.81 -1.31%

American Express Co. (AXP) $359.48 -1.05%

Visa Inc. (V) $325.26 -0.98%

3M Co. (MMM) $158.19 -0.92%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $293.86 -0.83%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $148.34 -0.77%

S&P 500 - Risers

Corning Inc. (GLW) $109.74 15.58%

Sysco Corp. (SYY) $83.92 10.96%

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $9.28 7.65%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $238.46 7.00%

Amphenol Corp. (APH) $166.25 6.87%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $252.66 4.90%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,616.33 4.75%

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $103.26 4.66%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $332.71 4.15%

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $156.10 4.08%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Humana Inc. (HUM) $207.93 -21.13%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $282.70 -19.61%

Elevance Health Inc. (ELV) $322.92 -14.33%

CVS Health Corp (CVS) $72.00 -14.15%

Centene Corp. (CNC) $41.53 -10.26%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $13.55 -7.00%

Synchrony Financial (SYF) $72.79 -5.82%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $182.99 -5.57%

Invesco Ltd. (IVZ) $27.17 -5.13%

Gallagher Arthur J (AJG) $242.33 -5.12%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $238.46 7.00%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $252.66 4.90%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,616.33 4.75%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $332.71 4.15%

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,295.00 3.72%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,454.59 2.92%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $332.79 2.44%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $140.97 2.32%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $480.58 2.19%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $78.68 2.17%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

American Airlines Group (AAL) $13.55 -7.00%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $182.99 -5.57%

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $28.70 -2.48%

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $62.44 -2.39%

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $55.51 -1.93%

T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $184.49 -1.85%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $25.21 -1.64%

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $254.51 -1.42%

Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $191.21 -1.38%

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $20.19 -1.37%