Stocks fell on Tuesday as investors braced for the final trading day of February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15 points, or 0.05%, while the S&P 500 hovered below the flat line and the Nasdaq Composite slipped by 0.1%.
The moves followed a positive session for the major averages as Treasury yields eased. TheDow Jones Industrialaverage rose 72.17 points or 0.22%, while theS&P 500andNasdaq Compositegained 0.31% and 0.63%, respectively.
Tuesday marks thelast day of February. Despite a solid start to the year, the major indexes are on pace for their second negative month in three. As of Monday’s close, the Dow is down 3.5% for the month and the only major index negative for the year. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are positive in 2023, but down 2.3% and 1%, respectively, in February.
February “will go down in history as the month where the market pulled back to digest a very strong rally you saw at the end of December into most of January,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments. “This is a pullback month, it’s a rest month, and that’s good as long as support is defended and support holds, which is last week’s low.”