Investing.com -- The Dow closed lower Tuesday, but downside momentum was curbed by rising tech stocks as Treasury yields fell after data showed labor demand fell to a two-year low.
By 16:00 ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 was flat, while the NASDAQ Composite was 0.3% higher.
Apple, falling Treasury yields lead tech higher
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), up 2%, led tech higher after Bank of America, citing data from SensorTower, said Apple App store revenue rose 11% during in the current quarter so far.
But UBS said that while the double digital growth was encouraging, the absolute dollars spent in the App Store "have largely been flattish month-over-month dating back to December 2022."
The move higher in Apple took its market cap back above $3 trillion mark.
As well as rise in Apple, tech was also supported by fall in Treasury yields amid a rising odds of Fed March rate cut.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped 12 basis points to 4.169%.
Labor demand slows to boost rate cut bets; services activity improves
The JOLTS report showed job openings in the world's largest economy slipped to 8.7 million on the final day of October, down from 9.553 million on the last day of the prior month, and the lowest level in two-years.
The softer demand for labor, pushed the odds of a March rate cut to 56%, up form 35% last week, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
U.S. services sector activity, meanwhile, surprised to the upside last month, rising to a reading of 52.7 in November, from 51.8 the prior month.
Take-Two falls on GTA disappointment; CVS rises on guidance; Take-Two Interactive
Software (NASDAQ:TTWO) stock fell 0.5% after a trailer of the latest installment of its best-selling "Grand Theft Auto" videogame franchise was released, implying the game was arriving in 2025, later than previously expected.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) stock rose 3.7% after the health conglomerate forecast 2024 revenue above expectations, and detailed plans to simply its pricing on prescription drugs. The company also hiked its quarterly dividend by nearly 10%.
Procter & Gamble falls on $2B impairment charges
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) stock fell 3.5% after the consumer goods giant said it would record up to $2.5 billion in charges over two fiscal years related to writing down the value of its Gillette business and the restructuring of certain markets.
Gitlab shines on earnings stage
Gitlab (NASDAQ:GTLB) stock soared 11% after the open-source software development platform impressed with its third-quarter results, while issuing strong guidance for the current quarter.
Bitcoin remains in spotlight after briefly topping $44,000
Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD) rose more than 4% after briefly rallying to $44,000, pushing most cryptocurrency-related stocks including Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT).
(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this report.)