US markets traded mixed on Tuesday amid a flurry of earnings reports, news on Brexit and optimism that the U.S. and China were edging toward a resolution on bilateral trade.
The Dow closed 37 points lower, or -0.15%, after rising more than 100 points earlier in the session. The broader S&P500, slid 0.36% to 2,995 though remains within striking distance of a record high hit in July. Through Tuesday morning, more than 19% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly numbers. Of those companies, nearly 80% have beaten analyst earnings expectations. The NASDAQ pulled back -0.72%. Drug maker, Biogen Inc. surged on news it will ask US drug regulators to approve the company’s experimental Alzheimer’s therapy reviving the nearly abandoned treatment after a new analysis of data from two failed clinical trials showed promising results. “We got clear support from the FDA,” Chief Executive Officer Michel Vounatsos said in a telephone interview. The move by Biogen -- if successful -- would be the drug industry’s most dramatic reversal of fortune in history. Travelers, meanwhile, posted its worst day since 2008, plunging nearly 8%.