New York, US stocks closed mixed as investors digested a batch of corporate earnings reports and key economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday rose 51.74 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 24,579.96. The S&P 500 was down 3.85 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 2,640.00, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 57.40 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 7,028.29.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s estimates. It reported earnings per share of $0.64 and revenue of $13.97 billion.
For the full year of 2018, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $3 and revenue of $53.6 billion.
For 2019, Pfizer projected adjusted earnings per share to range between $2.82 to $2.92 and revenue to range between $52 billion to $54 billion, both lower than analysts’ estimates.
On the data front, the US consumer confidence index hit 120.2 in January, down from 126.6 in December, according to the Conference Board’s monthly survey.
Lynn Franco, senior director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, said while economic conditions remained favourable, expectations declined sharply as financial market volatility and the government shutdown appeared to have had an impact on consumers.
