New York Report: Wall St shrugs off tensions
THE S&P 500 finished almost flat yesterday, a day after closing at an all-time high, as investors shrugged off soft data on jobs and the services sector while keeping an eye on developments in Ukraine.
The market showed little reaction to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, as the Dow Jones industrial average fell 35.70 points or 0.22 per cent, to end at 16,360.18.
The S&P 500 dipped just 0.10 of a point, or 0.01 per cent, to finish at 1,873.81, just below its record closing high on Tuesday at 1,873.91.
The Nasdaq Composite added 6.002 points or 0.14 per cent, to close at 4,357.974. Yesterday, the S&P 500 also hit an intraday record high at 1,876.53. Investors’ global flight to safety on Monday was reversed sharply on Tuesday. Markets were calmer yesterday, but volatility was expected, given the fluid situation in Ukraine. Wall Street’s fear gauge, dropped 1.5 per cent to end at 13.89.