Investing.com - The Dow seesawed to a lower close Tuesday as fears over rising rates hurt sentiment, even as bond yields eased from multi-year highs and tech stocks rebounded from a selloff a day earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.21%. The S&P 500 fell 0.14%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.03%.
For the second-straight day, investors had to contend with wild swings on Wall Street as markets continued to dance to the tune of movements in U.S. government bond yields.
The 10-year US Treasury yield retreated intraday from a fresh seven-year high above 3.25%, dampening the narrative somewhat that higher yields would prompt investors to ditch riskier assets like stocks in favor of less riskier ones like Treasuries.
Still, gains in the broader market were kept in check by a malaise in materials, led by a rout in shares of PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) after the paint company said costs are rising at the fastest pace in two years, sounding the alarm bells for a pullback in profits of U.S. manufacturers.
Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW), WestRock (NYSE:WRK) and Packaging Corp of America (NYSE:PKG) also weighed heavily on materials, with the latter's shares off 8%.
Energy, however, attempted to lead the charge higher, supported by surging oil prices as Hurricane Michael barrelled toward the oil-rich U.S. Gulf Coast, raising the prospect of output disruptions.
Bargain-hunting investors, meanwhile, scooped up battered tech stocks following a slide a day earlier as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) closed higher.
Sentiment on stocks was soured ahead of the U.S. open, after the International Monetary Fund cut global economic growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019, and its 2019 estimates for U.S. and China, citing pressure from the monthslong trade war.
President Donald Trump did little to allay investor fears about the U.S.-China trade war after he repeated a threat to impose tariffs on $267 billion worth of additional Chinese imports if Beijing retaliates to Washington's recent levies.
The volatile day on Wall Street was characterised by sharp moves in popular names including Tesla and Snap.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 5% after Macquarie upgraded its rating on the stock to outperform with a price target of $430, touting the electric automaker's “strong brand presence,” and downplaying concerns about funding.
Tesla will get over the "debt maturity event hump," if shares reach $360 by March 1, Macquarie said.
Snapchat operator Snap (NYSE:SNAP) fell 6% as MoffettNathanson warned that the social media company was at risk of "running out of money,” boosting the need for a capital raise.
In other corporate news, Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) rose 2% after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square disclosed a new $900 million stake in the coffee chain.
The fund bought 15.2 million shares in Starbucks, or about $900 million worth, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD), Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA), National Oilwell Varco Inc (NYSE:NOV) among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG), Packaging Corp of America (NYSE:PKG), WestRock Co (NYSE:WRK) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.