Wall Street capped another day of listless trading Wednesday with a slight gain, extending the market's winning streak to a third day.
Financial, materials and industrial companies accounted for much of the gain, outweighing losses in health care and real estate stocks as investors reviewed the latest batch of company earnings reports.
The benchmark S&P 500 index, which has risen for the past three weeks, gained 4.94 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,784.70. The Dow Jones industrial average added 63.12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 25,954.44.
The Nasdaq composite rose 2.30 points, or 0.03 percent, to 7,489.07. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 7.19 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,581.66.
Garmin, maker of fitness trackers and navigation technology, rose after reporting better sales. CVS Health slumped after the pharmacy operator gave a 2019 outlook that fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
Stock indexes spent much of the day wavering between small gains and losses as traders waited for signs of progress in the latest round of trade talks between the U.S. and China.
"Investors are a bit concerned that we might indeed be slipping into an earnings recession," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. "They're really sitting on pins and needles as it relates to the trade talks."
Major European indexes finished higher.
Roughly 84 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported results for the last three months of 2018, delivering earnings growth of about 13 percent versus a year earlier, according to FactSet. First-quarter snapshots are expected to result in a 2.7 percent decline in earnings, however.
Despite the solid profit growth in the previous quarter, investors are cautious about business conditions going forward as signs of weakness in the global economy emerge. Europe and China have both reported slower growth.
Uncertainty over the costly trade dispute between the world's largest economies has clouded the outlook for company profits this year.
"The earnings [outlook] reductions have been the result of the trade disagreement between China and the U.S.," Stovall said. "Should that get resolved, we could see a reversal of that trajectory."
President Donald Trump's administration was set today to resume high-level talks with Chinese officials after two days of preliminary talks by lower-level officials.
Garmin jumped 17 percent after reporting better sales and profit margins in the fourth quarter. The company's latest forecast came in ahead of financial analysts' projections. The stock led all others in the consumer discretionary sector, which includes retailers, automakers and restaurant chains.
La-Z-Boy surged 11.8 percent after the furniture company's latest quarterly earnings and revenue exceeded analysts' forecasts. The company benefited from higher average spending. Recent acquisitions also helped boost La-Z-Boy's results.
Cadence Design Systems climbed 4.6 percent after the software and engineering services company's latest quarterly results topped Wall Street's forecasts. The stock was the technology sector's biggest gainer.
CVS Health slumped 8.1 percent after the pharmacy operator issued a 2019 outlook that fell short of analysts' estimates. Chief Executive Officer Larry Merlo said in a statement that 2019 would be "a year of transition" as the company integrates the health insurer Aetna, which it purchased in a roughly $69 billion deal last year. A federal judge is still evaluating the acquisition.
Business on 02/21/2019