NEW YORK — On November 22, 2018, U.S. stocks recovered part of the prior session’s losses, but the rally lost steam late in the day as Apple gave back earlier gains and the S&P 500 finished close to its lows.
The broad market’s tone improved after a brutal two-day selloff, with energy and technology shares doing most of the work. Even so, the session ended with lingering caution as investors continued to worry about slowing global growth and the outlook for corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat at 24,464.69. The S&P 500 rose 8.04 points, or 0.30 percent, to 2,649.93, while the Nasdaq Composite added 63.43 points, or 0.92 percent, to 6,972.25.
Apple was one of the main drags on sentiment. The stock closed down 0.1 percent at $176.78 after trading as high as $180.27 earlier in the session. Traders said the late weakness, in thin holiday volume, suggested the pressure on the market had not fully passed.
Michael Antonelli, managing director of institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee, said the late-day reversal was a bad sign for bullish traders. “It’s ugly end-price action. There’s no way to say it otherwise,” he said. “Everybody’s watching Apple because it’s been one of the drivers of pain. It opened really strong and to give all of that back just means the pain is not over.”
Technology stocks still managed to finish higher overall, helped by Autodesk Inc, which jumped 9.7 percent after reporting third-quarter results above analysts’ estimates and announcing an $875 million deal to buy cloud-based software company PlanGrid.
Energy shares also advanced as oil prices steadied after a 6 percent drop on Tuesday. The S&P energy index rose 1.6 percent, while the S&P technology index gained 0.6 percent.
Retail stocks joined the rebound. The S&P retail index climbed 1.1 percent, ending an eight-session losing streak. Foot Locker Inc surged 14.9 percent after quarterly same-store sales beat expectations, and the move lifted other sports-related names including Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc, Hibbett Sports Inc and Nike Inc.
Gap Inc rose 4.7 percent after several Wall Street brokerages backed Chief Executive Arthur Peck’s more aggressive plan to close underperforming stores, a move expected to eliminate significant losses. The gains in Foot Locker and Gap helped push the S&P consumer discretionary index 1 percent higher.
Some traders also pointed to a report from capital markets-focused MNI saying the Federal Reserve may pause its interest rate-hiking cycle as early as spring. That view, they said, may have helped support the market.
The Cboe Volatility Index, a closely watched measure of expected near-term volatility for the S&P 500, fell 1.68 points to 20.8. Volume was light at about 6.5 billion shares, below the 8.5 billion daily average for the previous 20 trading days.
John Carey, managing director and portfolio manager at Amundi Pioneer Asset Management in Boston, described the move as a cautious recovery. “It’s a cautious, measured recovery to recapture some of the lost share price from the past few days,” he said. “Oil is a big part of it... It’s brought about an improvement in cyclical stocks,” he added, referring to energy and materials shares.
Market breadth was positive. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2.77 to 1, while Nasdaq advancers led decliners by 2.91 to 1. The S&P 500 recorded six new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite posted 14 new highs and 84 new lows.
The Dow and the S&P 500 remained in negative territory for 2018.
