U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday but finished well above session lows, with the Dow popping into the green just before the end of the trading day. Investors weighed a number of factors, including strong U.S. retail sales data, rising Treasury yields and a growing optimism surrounding third-quarter corporate earnings. Also, the Russell 2000
RUT,
which is focused on small cap stocks, took the lead, outperforming the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, a rare occurrence during a year where many corners of the stock market have performed poorly relative to megacap technology stocks. The S&P 500
SPX,
fell less than a point to finish at 4,373.20, according to preliminary closing data from FactSet. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
fell 34.24 points, or 0.3%, to 13,533.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
gained 13.11 points, or less than 0.1%, to 33,997.65.
