Wall Street ends mixed as earnings lift the Dow

US stocks closed mixed with the Dow out front on Tuesday, as a string of solid earnings lured investors to industrials and capital goods.

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The S&P 500 was essentially unchanged at the closing bell, while weakness in growth and microchip stocks pulled the tech-laden Nasdaq to a nominally lower close.

“We're at a little bit of a point of indecision, where nobody feels particularly strongly about anything,” said Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia. “That reflects itself in reduced reaction to earnings surprise.”

Third-quarter earnings season has shifted into overdrive, with corporate giants such as General Motors, GE Aerospace, 3M and Coca-Cola posting generally upbeat results. But with major US stock indexes hovering near record highs and valuations stretched, upbeat results alone could prove insufficient to sustain investor risk appetite.

“The earnings are better than expected as companies continue to gain slightly in terms of margins, which suggests that (companies) have to be passing through the tariffs or pushing the tariffs back onto the importers,” Mr. Green said, adding “nothing is jumping out today to say that there’s a strong opinion being expressed anywhere.”