S&P 500 struggles for direction as regional banks rebound, but health care weighs

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 slipped between gains and losses Tuesday as investors digested a slip in health care stocks and renewed investor appetite for regional banking stocks.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, or 36 points lower, and the Nasdaq gained 0.4%.

Financials were the top performing sector on the day, led by regional banks including U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) and East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) as investors appear keen to buy into the weakness seen in the spring.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), meanwhile, helped push tech stocks higher though Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) continued to trade in the red after unveiling its Vision Pro headsets on Monday.

The higher-than-expected price of $3,499 for the headset could limit adoption and any meaningful boost to revenue in the near term, according to UBS

“[W]ith a starting price of $3,499, roughly $500 above our expectations and an availability date in early 2024, we estimate the impact over the next 12-18 months will likely be no more than 1%-2% of total revenue,” UBS added.

Health stocks were pressured by a slump in Elevance Health Inc (NYSE:ELV), Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN), with the latter down more than 4% as it continues its fight with regulators to save the deal to acquire cancer startup Grail.

Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) on Monday appealed against a Federal Trade Commission order that demanded the company to unwind its $7 billion acquisition of Grail.

Boeing (NYSE:BA), a major dow component, was also big drag on the market falling 2% after the aircraft maker said it would delay deliveries of its 737 Dreamliner jets, citing a production flaw.

In crypto-related news, the regulatory heat turned up a notch as the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) accusing the cryptocurrency platform of breaking U.S. regulations, sending its shares more than 12% lower.

The move comes just a day after the SEC sued Binance, alleging multiple security violations including misappropriating customer funds.

Cryptocurrencies, however, sidestepped the regulatory worries as Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD), ETH/USD and XRP led the broader crypto move higher.