By Ben St. Clair and Allison Prang 

U.S. stocks waffled between small gains and losses Wednesday as shares of utilities and energy companies slumped and the S&P 500 hovered just below its all-time high.

The broad stock-market index rose less than 0.1% after closing at its second-highest level ever Tuesday. The S&P 500 is about 0.5% away from its January high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 29 points, or 0.1%, to 25600, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%.

Investors continue to parse corporate-earnings results, with the bulk of companies done reporting numbers for the most recent quarter. The long-running uncertainty over trade also pressed on as the Trump administration completed plans Tuesday to impose tariffs on an additional $16 billion of Chinese imports. The penalties, which were widely expected and would take effect Aug. 23, bring the total amount of Chinese goods covered by tariffs to $50 billion.

Still, U.S. economic data have pointed to a strong economy, and investors have remained hesitantly optimistic as companies this year have reported positive earnings growth, pushing the S&P 500 up 3.6% in the past month. Unfilled jobs are growing in nearly every industry amid an expanding economy and a historically low unemployment rate, which was 3.9% last month. The problem is most acute in a few fields, led by transportation.

Ryan Kelley, portfolio manager at Hennessy Funds, said earnings are "somewhat old news" given that most companies in the broader index have already reported results but said, "we're very encouraged" that fundamentals are what's fueling the market.

"Trade continues to be an issue," but it isn't clear how tariffs are going to affect earnings, Mr. Kelley said.

Shares of energy companies were the worst performers in the S&P 500, with the sector losing 0.9% as oil prices tumbled. U.S. crude for September delivery settled down 3.2% at $66.94 a barrel after data showed total U.S. stockpiles of oil and fuel hit a seven-month high, suggesting supply was outpacing demand.

Declines in the utilities and consumer-staples sectors also dragged on the broad index, while the financials, tech and health-care sectors edged higher.

Shares of Snap fell 5.2% after the company posted its first quarterly decline in users. Alternatively, shares of CVS Health rose 4.2% after adjusted earnings, revenue and same-store sales all beat estimates for the latest quarter.

Shares of Walt Disney fell 2% after the media company reported adjusted earnings and revenue that missed estimates amid a ramp-up in spending.

"The factor that's driving markets are earnings," said Neil Veitch, global investment director at SVM Asset Management. "The market, particularly in the U.S., continues to grind higher," added Mr. Veitch, who like many investors is optimistic about growth prospects.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.2%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged down 0.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.4%. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.3%.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 08, 2018 15:43 ET (19:43 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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