Stocks finish mixed Tuesday after strong run

A wobbly day of trading on Wall Street left stock indexes mixed Tuesday, pulling the S&P 500 just below its latest record high.

The benchmark index slipped 0.1% after wavering between modest gains and losses.

The slight loss snapped a four-day winning streak for the index, which set an all-time high on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq fell 0.6%.

Roughly 60% of the companies in the S&P 500 rose, but a slide in technology, health care and communication stocks outweighed gains in industrial firms, household goods makers and elsewhere in the market. Small company stocks also fell, pulling the Russell 2000 index 0.7% lower.

“We did have four straight days of upward movement,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “Investors are keeping their fingers tightly crossed that we will end up with a positive ‘Santa Claus’ rally.”

That’s what Wall Street calls a rally in the final five days in December and the first two trading days in January. Since 1950, the S&P 500 index has risen an average of 1.3% during those seven days. If the “Santa rally” doesn’t arrive, some traders see it as an omen that stocks may fall in the upcoming year.

The S&P 500 slipped 4.84 points to 4,786.35. The Dow rose 95.83 points to 36,398.21. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 89.54 points to 15,781.72. The Russell 2000 gave up 14.95 points to 2,246.51.

The major U.S. stock indexes are on pace to close out 2021 with strong gains. The S&P 500 is up 27.4% with three trading days to go this year.

Technology companies, which did well on Monday, led the decliners in the S&P 500. Graphics chip maker Nvidia fell 2%.

Health care and communication services stocks also weighed on the market. Pfizer fell 2% and Moderna dropped 2.2%. Twitter fell 2%.

Industrial companies and household goods makers were among the better performers.

Boeing added 1.5% and Campbell Soup rose 2.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500.

Airline stocks recovered some of their losses from this month. American Airlines rose 2%, United Airlines gained 1.5% and Delta Air Lines closed 1.6% higher.

The major indexes posted gains last week as fears ebbed about the potential impact of the COVID-19 omicron variant. However, much is still uncertain about omicron, which is spreading extremely quickly and leading to a return to pandemic restrictions in some places.

Spike in cases could cost ESPN $400M in ads

The spike in COVID-19 cases imperils as much as $400 million in college football playoff advertising for Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN sports network because of the growing risk games may be canceled, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated in a note Tuesday.

A handful of games have already been called off, including the Hawaii, Military and Fenway bowls, because of the surging caseloads.

Postseason college football brings in $350 million to $400 million annually for ESPN, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Geetha Ranganathan estimated, citing Kantar Media. Revenue grew about 8% annually from 2013 to 2018.

The TV industry is also grappling with a loss of viewers to streaming services. Last year’s NCAA championship game saw audience ratings decline by 27%.

Representatives for ESPN didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

ESPN generates about $12 billion in annual sales for Disney and about $4.3 billion in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, Bloomberg Intelligence said.

From wire reports