U.S. stocks fell from record levels on Tuesday as the recent rally driven by signs of strong economic rebound took a pause.
The Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 96.95 points from Monday’s all-time high to 33,430.24.
The S&P 500 dipped 3.97 points, to 4,073.94, from Monday’s record high, pressured by tech and health care. The broad equity benchmark fell for the first time in four days.
The NASDAQ Composite subtracted 7.21 points to 13,698.38.
Shares of airlines and cruise lines continued their recent gains. Delta Air Lines rose 2.8%, while Carnival and Royal Caribbean both gained more than 1%. Norwegian Cruise Line jumped 4.6%.
The U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday job openings south of the border rose to 7.37 million on the last day of February from about seven million in January, according to its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting a total of seven million.
Investors continue to assess President Joe Biden’s $2-trillion infrastructure proposal announced last week and its chance to become reality. While politicians on both sides of the aisle support funding to rebuild American roads and bridges, disagreements over the ultimate size of the bill and how to pay for it remain, including Biden’s plan to raise the corporate tax to 28%.
Biden said Monday he is not worried that a corporate tax hike would hurt the economy. Conservative Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia reportedly said he opposes the proposed tax hike to a level that high.
On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that the state will reopen its economy by June 15 provided that coronavirus vaccine and hospitalization cases remain stable.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys moved upward, lowering yields to 1.65% from Monday’s 1.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 74 cents to $58.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $14.80 to $1,743.60.