Investing.com - Profit taking sent U.S. stocks edging lower earlier Tuesday, after investors locked in gains from last week's upbeat U.S. jobs report and sold for profits, especially on concerns valuations have grown a little frothy this year.
Towards the end of the session, however, stocks took back earlier losses, allowing for a lackluster close.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow 30 rose 0.02%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.02%, while the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.04%.
The Volatility S&P 500 index, which measures market volatility, was down 0.90% at 11.05.
U.S. stock indices fell earlier Tuesday, wiping out several days of record-high closings on sentiments that prices have risen too high and were due for a pullback.
The Dow 30, for example, has closed at record highs nine times in 2014 prior to Tuesday, though share prices did trim earlier losses later in the session.
Rising Treasury yields, four months of solid monthly jobs reports and other upbeat economic indicators in the U.S. have boosted stock prices by fueling hopes the economy is brushing off the fallout from a rough winter.
On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy added 217,000 in May, close to expectations for a 218,000 increase.
It was the fourth consecutive month in which the U.S. economy added more than 200,000 new nonfarm payrolls.
The private sector added 216,000 jobs last month, exceeding expectations for a 210,000 gain.
Meanwhile, Treasury yields in the U.S. continued to rise on expectations that Thursday's retail sales report will come in strong, prompting investors to reevaluate when the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates.
Fed officials have said some time will pass between the time monetary authorities wrap up stimulus programs, currently seen taking place at the end of this year, and when interest rates rise, forecast to take place sometime in 2015, though the timing of such still remains up in the air.
The yield on the U.S. U.S. U.S. 10-Year Treasury note rose to 2.65% earlier Tuesday, its highest in a month.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), up 1.16%, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), up 0.94%, and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), up 0.87%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), down 1.06%, Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), down 0.87%, and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), down 0.80%.
European indices, meanwhile, ended the day largely higher.
After the close of European trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.17%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.13%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.20%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 fell 0.02%.