Wall Street's main indexes eased on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 retreating from a record high, as a decline in economy-sensitive cyclical stocks outweigh an early boost from growth stocks after reassuring comments from the Federal Reserve. More than half of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading lower by early afternoon, with energy and financials leading declines. Growth stocks including Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc rose between 0.2% and 2.2%, leading gains. The S&P 500 banks index fell 1.2% for the second straight day after gaining steadily till the start of the earnings season. Analysts expect 66% profit growth for S&P 500 companies in the second quarter, compared to a 30.6% decline during the second quarter of 2020, according to IBES estimate data from Refinitiv.

Source: Mint July 14, 2021 16:41 UTC