Wall St flat, defensives counter tech drag

By Ellis Mnyandu

PepsiCo Inc led advancers on the S&P 500 with a gain of more than 4 percent, after the soft drink and snack maker posted an operating profit in line with Wall Street's estimates.

"I think we're bouncing off the lows, and there's a contrarian reaction to the level of negative sentiment," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford Hills, New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 9.67 points, or 0.08 percent, at 12,190.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 0.71 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,327.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 4.79 points, or 0.21 percent, at 2,273.96.

Analysts said some investors were also encouraged by a report on December pending home sales, while worse than expected, prove to be not as bad as some had feared.

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky