Dow And S&P 500 Close Roughly Flat As Fed Announcement Looms

(RTTNews) - Stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance over the course of the trading day on Tuesday before ending the session roughly flat. Lingering uncertainty about the Federal Reserve contributed to the choppy trading on the day.

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, considerable strength was visible among networking stocks. The NYSE Arca Networking Index surged up by 2.7 percent to a two-year closing high.

Within the networking sector, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and Harris (HRS) posted standout gains after reporting their quarterly results.

Biotechnology stocks also showed a strong move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.2 percent. Alexion (ALXN) helped lead the way higher after Bloomberg said the company has hired Goldman Sachs (GS) as an adviser as it prepares for a possible takeover offer from Roche.

Semiconductor, computer hardware, and software stocks also saw strength on the day, contributing to a notable advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, gold stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, moving lower along with the price of gold. With gold for December delivery sliding $4.80 to $1,324.80 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index fell by 1.2 percent.

Healthcare provider, airline, and health insurance stocks also saw some weakness, offsetting the strength in the aforementioned sectors.

The Dow ended the day down 1.38 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 15,520.59, while the S&P 500 inched up 0.63 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 1,685.96.

On the other hand, the strength among technology stocks provided a boost to the Nasdaq, which rose 17.33 points or 0.5 percent to 3,616.47. The gain lifted the Nasdaq to a nearly thirteen-year closing high.