Stocks pared gains Tuesday afternoon, with a downward reversal in small caps and energy stocks contributing to a softening session on Wall Street.
The Russell 2000 made a record high at the open but erased gains and was off 0.6% in afternoon trading. Small-cap financial and health care stocks were lower, causing much of the Russell’s lagging performance.
Still, the Russell has emerged as a market leader, hitting new highs while the other major indexes still have some climbing to do to reach fresh peaks.
The Dow Jones industrial average led with a nearly 0.4% increase; the S&P 500 was less than 0.2% higher. The Nasdaq composite, however, fell almost 0.2% after being up as much as 0.3%. After rallying off its 50-day moving average last week, the Nasdaq appears to be cooling off.
Volume was tracking lower on the Nasdaq and higher on the NYSE compared with the same time Monday.
U.S. crude futures were up 3 cents to $73.88, off the day’s high of $74.70. Crude oil futures sharply pared gains after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. may extend sanctions relief to some oil buyers that are still importing from Iran.
New Highs And Reversals Too
The swings in the oil market caused a number of energy stocks to hit new highs and then reverse.
Dow component Exxon Mobil (XOM), Diamondback Energy (FANG), ConocoPhillips (COP), Transocean (RIG), SM Energy (SM) and Marathon Oil (MRO) poked above buy points but all slid below those entries in afternoon dealings.
Exxon Mobil has a couple of other problems with its breakout bid: Volume was running well below average, and the relative strength line had not made a new high.
Cactus (WHD), which broke out Monday, fell 7.5% below the 35.28 buy point, but bounced as soon as it touched the 50-day moving average. Suncor Energy (SU) held above the 41.91 proper buy point, but volume was flat.
