Stocks wobble; tech companies slip, offsetting other gains

Stocks wobbled between small gains and losses on Wall Street Tuesday as losses from technology companies offset gains from banks and industrial companies.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 as of 1:13 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 149 points, or 0.4%, to 35,251 and the Nasdaq fell 0.4%.

The majority of companies in the benchmark S&P 500 made gains, but they were kept in check by technology companies, which have an outsized weight on the index.

Banks made some of the strongest gains as bond yields edged higher. Banks benefit from higher yields, which allow them to charge higher interest rates on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.34% from 1.31% late Monday.

Oil prices pulled up after sliding most of the last week and into Monday. U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 3.3% and helped lift energy stocks. Exxon Mobil rose 1.8%.

The broader market remains choppy with investors in the midst of a relatively quiet week. The latest round of corporate earnings is nearly finished and there are only a few pieces of economic data expected.

“We think this is a growing market and a growing economy and there’s room for this market to move,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “But that growth story does have some risk to it.”

The lull in activity comes as Wall Street is still trying to gauge the pace of economic growth amid new worries about the latest wave of COVID-19 from the more contagious delta variant. Parts of Japan, including Tokyo, the capital, remain under a state of emergency as surging numbers of infections put more COVID-19 patients in already overburdened hospitals.

Analysts have said that the pace of growth will likely continue to slow as the year rolls on, but the latest surge with the virus has raised more concerns about just how much. Investors could have a better sense of the virus' impact on the economy in the coming months as schools reopen from summer break and people try to get back to normal activities, Haworth said.

Inflation concerns and the Federal Reserve's future plans to ease up on its support for low interest rates also hangs over the markets.

Earnings season is wrapping up with several big names. AMC Entertainment, which was battered by movie theater closures during the pandemic, rose 0.8% after reporting surprisingly good second-quarter results.

Ebay will report its results on Wednesday and Walt Disney will report results on Thursday.

Kansas City Southern jumped 7.1% after Canadian Pacific raised its offer for the railroad operator, reigniting a bidding war with Canadian National.