NEW YORK — Stocks ended mixed and mostly lower Tuesday, led by a steep decline in drug company shares as investors worried it will become harder for the companies to raise prices. Materials companies fell along with the price of precious metals.
U.S. stocks have hardly moved over the past two days, following a four-week rally that erased some big losses from earlier this year.
“People are kind of re-evaluating where we are,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management. “It’s kind of amazing we haven’t pulled back a little more.”
The Dow Jones industrial average added 22.40 points, or 0.13 percent, to 17,251.53. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,015.93. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 21.61 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,728.67.
Trading has been mixed and fairly calm this week as investors wait for the Federal Reserve’s Open Markets Committee remarks on interest rates and the economy on Wednesday. Investors are also awaiting Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index report, which Paulsen said he thinks will reveal more than the Fed’s statement.
“We ought to be paying attention to the Fed’s boss, the economy,” he said. “If the economic data gets better, the Fed will raise rates. If it doesn’t get better, they won’t.”
Drug company stocks were not afforded any of the market’s tranquility Tuesday. They were pummeled after Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which is already facing scrutiny over its business practices, said its strategy of boosting product prices is no longer viable. Every drug company in the S&P 500 fell, and big drug makers Pfizer and Merck led decliners on the Dow.
Tech stocks made the biggest gains Tuesday, led by Apple, which rose $2.06, or 2 percent, to $104.58 after a Morgan Stanley analyst said first-quarter iPhone sales look stronger than Wall Street had expected.
Mining companies fell with metals prices. The price of gold fell $14.10, or 1.1 percent, to $1,231 an ounce. Silver sank 26 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $15.26 an ounce. Copper slipped less than 1 cent to $2.23 a pound.
Energy stocks declined as oil prices fell for the second day in a row. Benchmark U.S. crude shed 84 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $36.34 a barrel. Brent crude, the benchmark used to price international oils, lost 79 cents, or 2 percent, to $38.74 per barrel in London.
