Investing.com – Wall Street closed lower reversing triple-digit gains as fears over a government shutdown offset investor optimism for a solid quarter of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower at 25,792. The S&P 500 closed 0.35% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,223.69, down 0.51%. The Dow jones gained as much as 283 points, rising above 26,000 for the first ever before closing lower.
The prospect of a government shutdown unnerved investors after talks between Republicans and Democrats over passing a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown stalled as an immigration bill, which Democrats want to pass remains a sticking point. A spending bill would need to be passed by end of Friday to avoid a government shutdown.
That overshadowed underlying investor optimism for a solid quarter of earnings after Citigroup (NYSE:C) reported earnings that beat estimates while revenue was in-line with Wall Street consensus. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are slated to report earnings Wednesday.
Also weighing on the broader market was a more than 1% slump in energy as crude oil settled sharply lower amid profit taking, and investor expectations that domestic production is set to surge.
In corporate news, Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) closed more than 4% higher after the chipmaker said that for 2019, it is targeting non-GAAP earnings of $6.75 to $7.50 per share, well above the $4.02 average estimate from analysts consensus.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) up 5.8%, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) up 4.9% and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) up 0.8%
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) down 2.9%, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) down 1.9%, and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) down 1.9%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.