US stocks drop after seven consecutive record highs
By Anneken Tappe, CNN Business
Wall Street has been on fire the past several weeks, with the S&P 500 setting seven consecutive record highs through Friday’s close. That streak came to an end Tuesday.
The Dow fell 209 points, or 0.6%. The index had been down by as much as 427 points at one point before cutting its losses.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.2% after logging its longest string of records since 1997. The Nasdaq, on the other hand, gained 0.2% to close at a record high.
It wasn’t clear what set off investors on Tuesday, but cyclical stocks, which benefit when the economy is performing well, took the brunt of the beating Tuesday. The Dow’s worst performers included Dow Inc, Chevron and Caterpillar.
The S&P’s worst performers were oil field services business Halliburton and exploration companies Occidental Petroleum and Diamondback Energy, all driven lower by a pullback in oil prices.
Although most signs are strong for the US economic rebound, the recent chaos in the oil market — and a surge to above $70 a barrel — could hurt consumer spending.
Oil prices soared early Tuesday after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia and Mexico, called off a meeting to discuss production curbs as demand for oil recovers following the pandemic. US oil prices hit $76.98 a barrel, the highest level since November 2014, before retreating. Crude finished the day at $73.37 a barrel, down 2.4% from Friday.
Back in the stock market, tech stocks were the bright spot. Amazon was the best performer in the S&P and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the day in the green.
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