U.S. market indexes were higher Tuesday. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18,129.96 for a gain of 9.79 points, or 0.05%. The Standard & Poor's 500 was also higher, closing at 2,139.76 for a gain of 0.64 points, or 0.03%. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5,241.35 for a gain of 6.33 points, or 0.12%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 15.92 for a gain of 0.39 points, or 2.51%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains for the day:
- McDonald's (MCD, Financial) 1.08%.
- Merck (MRK, Financial) 0.99%.
- General Electric (GE, Financial) 0.82%.
For Tuesday, Housing Starts was the only leading report on the economic calendar. Housing starts increased to an annualized rate of 1.142 million from 1.212 million. The consensus was for housing starts to decrease to 1.190 million.
On Tuesday, stocks traded mostly flat with gains just above zero for the day as investors awaited results from central bank meetings at the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. The Bank of Japan’s central bank policy meeting will conclude Tuesday evening at 11 p.m. (EDT) and the Fed will conclude Wednesday afternoon. The BOJ could lower its central bank rates further into negative territory while the Fed could increase its rate.
A report from CNBC Tuesday discussed how the market is trading ahead of Wednesday's central bank announcements.
Disclosure: I do not own any stocks included in this article.
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