Investing.com – Stocks on Wall Street fell back modestly Tuesday, buffeted by political undertainty in Britain, tech weakness at home and a big change at Boeing (NYSE:BA).
The S&P 500 slipped 0.36% and fell back under 3,000. It lasted just one day above 3,000 after a month of closes under that level, which has proved a stubborn resistance level.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.15% on weakness in Travelers Companies NYSE:TRV) and McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD).
The Nasdaq Composite fell back 0.72% on weakness in such stocks as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Advanced Micro Devices I(NASDAQ:AMD) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). Microsoft reports fiscal-first-quarter earnings after Wednesday's close.
Tech shares may be pressured again on Wednesday after Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) fell 10% postmarket after offering a gloomy outlook.
The S&P fell back in part because of the uncertainty from Britain after Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost a key vote on taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union. Parliament voted against Johnson's fast-track timetable, putting into doubt the ability for the U.K. to leave with a deal by the Oct. 31 deadline, and it may lead to new elections.
Boeing shares moved 1.8% higher after the aerospace giant said Kevin McAllister is stepping aside as president of Boeing Commercial Airplane, the division that makes the now-grounded 737 MAX airliner. He is the highest-profile executive affected by the crisis that erupted when two 737 MAX planes crashed and killed 346 people.
Boeing reports third-quarter results before Wednesday's open and CEO Dennis Muilenburg is expected to testify before Congress next week.
McDonald's shares, down 5%, weighed on the Dow and other fast-food stocks after earnings missed estimates. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) was off 2.4% in regular trading and sank slightly postmarket despite reporting $3.82 a share in earnings, up from $1.16 a share a year ago. Revenue was up nearly 14% at $1.4 billion and ahead of the $1.38 estimate of analysts followed by Investing.com.
Shares of ride-sharing company Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) rose 6.56% after founders Logan Green and John Zimmer told attendees at a Wall Street Journal event the company expects to show positive "adjusted EBITDA" (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in the fourth quarter of 2021, a year earlier than Wall Street expected. Shares of rival Uber (NYSE:UBER) rose 3.57%.
Meanwhile, Nike (NYSE:NKE) shares rose 0.9% after hours after the athletic-footware-and-equipment maker said Mark Parker, CEO since 2006, will step aside in January. He will remain board chairman. John Donahoe has been named to succeed Parker. Donahoe has been CEO of ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW), which fell 6% in after-hours trading.
Oil prices moved higher on speculation OPEC may order more production cuts next year. OPEC meets in December.
Gold Futures were little changed. Interest rates were modestly lower. The 10-Year Treasury yield fell to 1.768% from Monday's 1.792%.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) was the top S&P 500 performer on news its treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, aducanumab, shows promise in reducing signs of the disease in a sample of patients.
Also among the top performers were Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG), Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) and L Brands (NYSE:LB).
Toymaker Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) was the biggest S&P 500 loser because of weak earnings. Also lower were insurance giant Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) and software and engineering company Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS).