US Equities Finish Modestly Higher

The US stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Tuesday. Despite the choppy trading, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq once again reached new record closing highs. The major averages all finished the day modestly higher. The S&P 500 climbed 13.80 points or 0.2 percent to 5,487.03, the Dow rose 56.76 points or 0.2 percent to 38,834.86 and the Nasdaq inched up 5.21 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 17,862.23.

While most of the major sectors showed only modest moves, gold stocks saw considerable strength amid an increase by the price of the precious metal. Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks. Banking and computer hardware stocks also saw some strength on the day, while housing stocks saw notable weakness.

The Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales crept up by 0.1 percent in May after dipping by a revised 0.2 percent in April. Excluding an increase in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales edged down by 0.1 percent in May after slipping by a revised 0.1 percent in April. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released a separate report showing industrial production increased by much more than expected in the month of May. The Fed said industrial production jumped by 0.9 percent in May after coming in unchanged in April.

In the bond market, treasuries rebounded following the pullback seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 6.2 basis points to 4.217 percent.

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