The Dow and the S&P 500 ended higher on Tuesday, driven by robust earnings and a decline in energy prices, as investors continued to dump chip stocks and take refuge in other defensive assets. The Nasdaq ended in negative territory.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) jumped 1%, or 537.24 points, to close at 52,747.32 points.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, to finish at 7,428.78 points. Health care, communication services, and consumer staples stocks were the biggest gainers, while energy and tech stocks were the worst performers.
The Information Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) lost 1.8%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) dropped 1.4%. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) gained 2.4%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) added 2%, while the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) rose 1.9%. Seven of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.2%, to end at 24,876.91 points.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), was down 2.46% to 18.21. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the S&P 500 by a 2.5-to-1 ratio. A total of 17.2 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 17.4 billion.
On the S&P 500, there were 63 new 52-week highs and one new low.
Robust Earnings Boost Markets, Chip Selloff Continues
The S&P 500 rallied on Tuesday, boosted by gains in The Boeing Company (BA) and The Coca-Cola Company (KO) after the companies reported their quarterly results. Shares of Boeing jumped 4.8% despite the company reporting a wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter of 2026.
Boeing reported a quarterly loss of $0.76 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.34. However, it posted revenues of $24.56 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.11%.
The Coca-Cola Company reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $0.97 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.92 per share. The company’s shares ended up 5%.
Dow, which posted its third straight day of gains, got a boost from The Sherwin-Williams Company (SHW). The company’s shares jumped 8.3% after it reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $3.7 per share, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.56 per share. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The earnings season is fast gathering pace, and robust quarterly results from some of the industry bellwethers somewhat offset the bleeding chip stocks. Investors are concerned that companies like Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) and Alphabet, Inc. (GOOGL) are investing too much in AI data centers, which could be a risky affair.
