NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are changing course Tuesday as investors put an end to a two-day drop for technology companies. Major stock indexes are near record highs again as banks and retailers like Amazon also rise. Investors are selling traditionally safe, high-yielding investments like household goods makers and phone companies.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 11 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,440 as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 93 points, or 0.4 percent, to 21,328. The Nasdaq composite, which has a large concentration of technology companies, rose 40 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,215. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 6 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,425.
The S&P 500 is currently above the record high it set earlier this month and the Dow and Russell 2000 are above the highs they set Friday. On the New York Stock Exchange, two stocks are rising for every one that is falling.
DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Technology companies got back some of their losses from a steep slide over the last two days. Facebook rose $1.99, or 1.3 percent, to $150.43 while Microsoft gained 89 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $70.66. Elsewhere hard drive maker Western Digital added $3.09, or 3.6 percent, to $89.73.
Tech companies have done far better than the rest of the market over the last year but suffered a big decline Friday. They took another loss Monday, although they started to recover late in the day. Big tech companies like Apple and Alphabet have been responsible for a huge portion of the stock market’s gains this year.