S&P 500, Nasdaq reach historic highs on trade, vaccine hopes

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached record highs on Tuesday. However, gains fuelled by encouraging developments in Sino-U.S. trade and medical breakthroughs to combat the coronavirus were heavily dragged by a decline in Apple shares.

Apple Inc’s subdued performance greatly affected all three indexes as its stocks declined 0.8%. This came before the company’s 4-to-1 stock split. Moreover, the split resulted in a reshuffle in the blue-chip industrial average.

Salesforce.com, which jumped 3.6%, took Exxon Mobil Corp’s spot. Amgen Inc, which soared 3.2%, replaced Pfizer Inc, while Honeywell International Inc, which advanced 5.4%, claimed Raytheon Technologies Corp’s spot.

“These changes reflect what has occurred in the overall business environment,” said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.