Stocks furthered Monday's declines on Tuesday as the Nasdaq erased earlier gains and fell into the red alongside the broader market. Big Tech stocks tumbled from earlier gains during the session, as market sentiment was tarnished by a disappointing housing starts report for April. Despite the market dip, traders were encouraged by positive first quarter data from Dow components Walmart
Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
The Biden administration on Tuesday detailed the cybersecurity spending included in President Joe Biden's proposed $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan following the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline:
The American Jobs Plan will make $20 billion in energy infrastructure investments for state and local governments that's contingent on cybersecurity modernization. "Specifically, these modernization block grants will be tied to the use of and compliance with 21st century energy, technology, and security standards. Eligibility for these grants will also be contingent on policies requiring installation of technology that detects and blocks malicious cyber activity on information and operational technology networks, consistent with privacy protections," the White House stated.
Additionally, the infrastructure plan also includes a $200 billion broadband investment to make the service more affordable, reliable, and secure across the country.
Nasdaq outperforms lagging broader market at midday as Big Tech shares gain:
S&P 500 Index: -0.03% or -1.10 points at 4,162.09
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.15% or -52.67 points to 34,275.12
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.61% or +82.00 points at 13,461.24
Walmart, Macy's, and Home Depot CEOs point to stimulus checks, increased consumer confidence and demand as main catalysts behind Q1 earnings beats:
Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon: "This was a strong quarter. Every segment performed well, and we're encouraged by traffic and grocery market trends. Our optimism is higher than it was at the beginning of the year. In the U.S., customers clearly want to get out and shop. We have a strong position as our store environment improves and ecommerce continues to grow. Stimulus in the U.S. had an impact, and the second half half has more uncertainty than a typical year. We anticipate continued pent-up demand throughout 2021."
Home Depot Chairman and CEO Craig Menear: "Fiscal 2021 is off to a strong start as we continue to build on the momentum for mour strategic investments and effectively manage the unprecedented demand for home improvement projects."
Macy's Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette: "In our first quarter we outperformed sales expectations across all three of our brands: Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury. We built on our momentum from the fourth quarter and our sales trend continued to improve throughout the first quarter...These results were driven by the positive effects of the government stimulus program and expanding vaccine rollout, coupled with the accelerated execution of our Polaris strategy, including investments in our digital platforms. Macy's remains a fashion and style source for customers as a digitally led omnichannel retailer. As consumers seek to re-engage with each other, we are seeing promising signs that our core customers are shopping again, and we continue to attract new customers, who increasingly begin their shopping experience with us online."
Here's how the market started trading after open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.10% or +4.32 points to 4,167.61
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.13% or +43.19 points to 34,370.98
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.10% or +19.98 points to 13,399.03
Housing starts sharply decline in April:
On the economic front, housing starts fell 9.5% in April over March to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.569 million, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. This worse-than-expected decline represented the rate's biggest drop since February and follows March's 19.8% jump. However, April's rate is still 67.3% above last April's rate of 938,000.
Additionally, building permits rose by 0.3% month-to-month in April, coming in weaker-than-expected and below March's downwardly revised rate of 1.7%.
