After showing a lack of direction throughout the trading session, stocks ultimately ended Tuesday's trading mixed. The choppy trading came as investors reacted to mixed economic and corporate news.
The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line over the course of the trading day, unable to sustain any significant moves. While the Dow eventually ended the day modestly lower, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 posted modest gains.
On the economic front, the U.S. trade deficit for November narrowed by much more than expected, according to a report released by the Commerce Department, with the size of the deficit falling to its lowest level since November of 2003.
The report showed that the trade deficit narrowed to $40.4 billion in November from a revised $56.7 billion in October. Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to $51.0 billion from the $57.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.
Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak said, "The much lower than expected deficit could lead to a full percentage point increase in fourth quarter GDP estimates due to the quirkiness of the calculation."
"The GDP number will look better on the surface even though the economy got worse and we imported less because of a bigger reduction in spending," Boockvar added.
In corporate news, aluminum producer Alcoa (AA) unofficially kicked off the earnings season by reporting a loss for the fourth quarter of nearly $1.2 billion, as restructuring charges, losses at discontinued operations and a sharp drop-off in aluminum prices dragged down results.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke before the London School of Economics earlier in the day, saying that the Fed stands ready to "aggressively" use its powers to help stimulate the economy and stabilize financial markets.
The Fed chairman also called for stronger regulatory oversight to prevent a similar crisis from happening again and urged policy-makers from around the world to work together to promote a sustainable recovery.
Bernanke also noted that a proposed government stimulus package could provide a significant boost to economic activity.
The major averages ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line, with the Dow posting a modest loss. While the Dow closed down 25.41 points or 0.3 percent at 8,448.56, the Nasdaq closed up 7.67 points or 0.5 percent at 1,546.46 and the S&P 500 closed up 1.53 points or 0.2 percent at 871.79.
In overseas trading, the stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended the session mostly lower on Tuesday, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closing down 4.8 percent.
The major European markets also closed lower, although off their worst levels of the day. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index closed down 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index posted a 0.6 percent loss.
In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day, with the benchmark ten-year yield eventually closing modestly higher. Subsequently, the yield on the ten-year note closed down 1.2 basis points at 2.297 percent.
Contributing to the lackluster performance that was shown by the broader markets, the major sectors also ended the day roughly mixed.
Nonetheless, significant weakness was visible among railroad stocks, as reflected by the 3.1 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Railroad Index. With the loss, the index ended the session at its worst closing level in well over two years.
Burlington Northern (BNI) helped to lead the sector lower, with the railroad company closing down 4.7 percent. The loss extended a recent downward move by Burlington Northern, which ended the session at a two-year closing low.
Some electronic storage stocks also posted steep loss, resulting in a 2.9 percent loss by the Amex Disk Drive Index. Among storage stocks, Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) closed down 10.8 after the company announced that it would lay off 1,380 workers, or about 30 percent of its workforce.
While health insurance, utilities, and airline stocks also posted notable losses, biotech stocks turned in some of the day's best performances, with the Amex Biotechnology Index closing up 3.9 percent.
Within the biotech sector, shares of ZymoGenetics (ZGEN) moved sharply higher after the company signed a deal with Bristol-Myers (BMY) worth up to $1.12 billion to develop a hepatitis C drug. ZymoGenetics closed up 26 percent, at a two-month closing high.
Oil service, real estate, gold and financial stocks also showed strong upward moves, with the strength in the oil service sector coming amid a modest increase by the price of oil.
Economic data is likely to be in focus on Wednesday, with traders likely to keep a close eye on the release of the Commerce Department's report on retail sales in December. Economists expect the report to show that sales fell by 1.2 percent.
Along with the retail sales report, trading could also be impacted by the release of reports on import and export prices and business inventories as well as the Fed's Beige Book report.
Additionally, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser is due to speak about the U.S. economic outlook on a panel at the University of Delaware, while Minneapolis Fed President Gary Stern is scheduled to speak about U.S. macroeconomic policy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
In corporate news, Linear Technology (LLTC) is due to release its quarterly results after the close of trading today.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.