Investing.com -- Stocks on the U.S. equities markets were mixed on Tuesday, amid a flurry of earnings report and ahead of Wednesday's release of U.S. GDP growth for the first quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Composite index edged up to reverse Monday's losses, while the NASDAQ Composite index closed slightly lower tamped down by a volatile day of trading in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock.
Bolstered by strong sessions from International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), the Dow gained 72.17 or 0.40% to 18,110.14. The S&P 500 rose 5.84 or 0.28% to 2,114.76, as eight of 10 sectors closed in the green, while the NASDAQ dropped 4.83 or 0.10% to 5,055.42. Stocks in the Telecommunication and Utilities sectors led, while stocks in Consumer Goods and Consumer Services lagged.
A possible earnings leak of Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) precipitated a frenetic scene late in the afternoon, as trading of shares in the social networking service was halted with less than an hour left in the session. Shares in Twitter began to fall rapidly after data mining company Selerity published the San Francisco-based company's quarterly earnings, before it was scheduled to release the report later on Tuesday. While Selerity reported that Twitter's adjusted earnings per share of 0.07 beat estimates of 0.04, the data mining company also reported that Twitter posted quarterly revenue of $436 million -- far below estimates of $436 million. When trading resumed with mere minutes left in the session, Twitter opened under $41 a share, following a bid-ask spread of $38-$43. After plunging more than 20% on the day, Twitter closed the session at 42.27, down 9.39 or 18.18%.
Twitter was investigating the source of the leak, company officials told CNBC after the bell.
The top performer on the Dow was Merck, which gained 3.22 or 5.64% to 60.32, after the pharmaceutical company's study on diabetes drug Januvia showed promising results for heart safety. IBM also rose 2.31 or 3.94% to 174.67, after the American multinational technology and consulting company hiked its quarterly dividend by 18%, its biggest increase in five years. The worst performer was Apple, which dropped 1.81 or 1.36% to 130.84 after reaching an all-time record high earlier in the session.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Microsoft, which rose 1.03 or 2.13% to 49.06. The worst performer, meanwhile, was CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:CHRW) which fell 3.33 or 4.83% to 65.61.
Merck was also the top performer on the S&P 500, ahead of mining company Freeport-McMoRan which gained 0.86 or 3.94% to 22.68. The worst performer was Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR), which fell 14.13 or 7.14% to 183.70 after the company slashed its profit and sales estimates, blaming a strong dollar and Brazil's struggling economy.