Stocks closed mixed on Wall Street Tuesday after a day of wobbly trading. Losses in big technology stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending tempered gains elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 rose 7.76 points, or 0.2%, to 4,690.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 194.55 points, or 0.5%, to 35,813.80. The Nasdaq fell 79.62 points, or 0.5%, to 15,775.14. Prices for crude oil and wholesale gasoline rose despite the fact that President Biden ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from the nation’s strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs, the AP reports. The move was made in concert with other big oil-consuming nations. The price of US crude oil rose 2.3% and wholesale gasoline rose 3.4%.
Several travel-related companies gained ground ahead as people prepare to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. Hilton Worldwide rose 1.3% and Booking Holdings rose 1.9%. Retailers were mixed ahead of the official start of the key holiday shopping season. Discount retailer Dollar Tree jumped 9.2% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Starbucks rose 1.9%. Best Buy slumped 12.3%, the biggest drop in the S&P 500, as concerns about tighter margins outweighed solid earnings.
Oil and gas companies made solid gains as energy prices rose. Devon Energy rose 5.5%. Technology and communications companies also weighed on the broader market. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 0.7% and Microsoft dropped 0.6%. Zoom Video sank 14.7% a day after the video conferencing company reported that its third-quarter revenue growth slowed. Investors are facing a holiday-shortened week. Markets are closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday.
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