U.S. stocks finished mixed Tuesday, following a global selloff in stocks and commodities.
$Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ slipped 0.1%. The$S&P 500 index(.SPX.US)$ retreated 0.1% and the $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ advanced 0.2% following the two indexes' worst one-day pullback since May.
Hong Kong's $Hang Seng Index(800000.HK)$ fell as much as 1.3% earlier but then rose 0.5% by the end of the trading day. Oil prices climbed, as did shares of energy companies.
To those who felt like markets had been overdue for some kind of pullback following a relatively sanguine summer, Monday's retreat appeared to have delivered on that front. Now, investors say, the focus shifts to how markets will fare as the pace of the global economic recovery cools and central bankers prepare to wind down some of the support they lent to markets at the start of the pandemic.
We are at a pivot point: We are moving away from maximum policy accommodation, and at the same time, the V-shaped recovery is over and it poses some real questions about what is next
-said David Donabedian, chief investment officer at CIBC Private Wealth.
Even those who feel stocks will be able to continue rising expect a bumpier stretch over the next few months. Federal Reserve officials kicked off a two-day monetary policy meeting Tuesday that will be scrutinized by investors for insight into the central bank's plans for its bond purchases and interest rates. Many investors credit much of the stock market's recovery from the pandemic-fueled downturn to extraordinary levels of support from the Fed, as well as fiscal stimulus.
We have had a great run but it is going to get tougher from here, with lower returns and more volatility
-said Mr. Donabedian.
Earnings and deal news drove swings among individual stocks Tuesday.
Homebuilder $Lennar Corp(LEN.US)$ sank 0.6% after missing analysts' sales expectations for the latest quarter, citing supply-chain challenges that show no sign of easing.
$U.S. Bancorp(USB.US)$ shares jumped 2.6% after the lender said it had agreed to buy MUFG Union Bank, which operates about 300 branches mainly on the West Coast, for about $8 billion.
As stocks stabilized, government bond prices retreated.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.323% from 1.308% Monday. Yields rise as bond prices fall.
Elsewhere, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1%, posting its biggest one-day gain since July.
$UNITEDMALT FPO(UMG.AU)$ jumped in its stock market debut. Shares of the company, which was spun off from French media group Vivendi, leapt 36% from their reference price.
Meanwhile, $Royal Dutch Shell PLC(RDS.A.US)$ rose 4% after the company said Monday that it had agreed to sell its assets in the Permian basin to ConocoPhillips for around $9.5 billion in cash.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2021 16:08 ET (20:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.