S&P 500 notches one of its narrowest trading ranges in about a half-century
The S&P 500 index on Tuesday marked its 15th session with a move within 0.5%, representing the longest such streak in about 48 years, according to Dow Jones data. The longest consecutive period of closes within 0.5% for the S&P 500 is a 20-session streak in February 1969. The S&P 500 finished Tuesday's trade less than 0.1% lower at 2,400, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw comparably muted action on the day, closing near break-even levels at 20,979. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index which has outperformed its peer equity benchmarks year to date, ended at a record, up 0.3% at 6,169, wrapping near its highs of the session. Tuesday's trading come amid heightened doubts that President Donald Trump can easily push through Congress the type of market-friendly policies that have helped so-called risk assets log a series of all-time highs. Wall Street spent much of Tuesday digesting reports that the president shared classified intelligence with Russian officials during a meeting in the White House last week, coming just a day after he fired then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey. Brisk moves for stock gauges over the past few months, on postelection euphoria, have mostly stalled out over the past several weeks as investors weigh a mixed batch of economic reports, the likelihood of Trump's policies coming to fruition and corporate earnings that have come out better than expected.
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