NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – High price losses in health insurer shares and rising tech heavyweights dominated the picture on the US stock exchanges on Tuesday. In the leading index Dow Jones Industrial, the shares of the insurer UnitedHealth fell by almost 20 percent. A heavyweight in the index, the losses pushed the Dow down 0.83 percent to 49,003.41 points.
The S&P 500, on the other hand, reached another record high. The market-wide index closed up 0.41 percent at 6,978.60 points. The round mark of 7,000 meters is now within immediate reach.
Prices on the technology-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange also mostly went up. Investors could have positioned themselves for positive business figures shortly before the quarterly financial statements of industry giants such as Microsoft, Apple and Tesla. The NASDAQ 100 gained 0.88 percent to 25,939.74 points, driven primarily by stocks from the chip industry.
The securities of health insurers suffered greatly from regulatory requirements. CVS Health’s shares fell by more than 14 percent. Humana slipped by a good 21 percent. The US government had announced that payments to private Medicare insurance companies for the so-called Advantage plans managed by the companies would remain virtually unchanged next year. Analysts, however, had expected an increase of up to 6 percent. Investors were correspondingly disappointed. They had previously assumed that President Donald Trump had a more favorable attitude toward private Medicare plans than his predecessor.
In addition, the companies’ quarterly balance sheets caused movement and, for the most part, price gains. The car company General Motors (GM) wants to keep its investors happy with a share buyback after a quarterly loss worth billions. Investors were also impressed by the company’s profit forecast. Its shares rose by 8.8 percent to a high for several years. Ford (Ford Motor) shares gained 3.7 percent in the wake of GM.
At the aerospace and defense company RTX (Raytheon Technologies), business at the end of 2025 went significantly better than expected. The company’s own engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney achieved significantly more sales in the fourth quarter than analysts expected. The news was well received on the financial market: RTX shares rose by 3.7 percent.
The US defense company Northrop Grumman, like the entire industry, benefits from rising global defense budgets. After initial price losses, the shares turned positive, which ultimately amounted to 2.7 percent.
Shares of UPS (United Parcel Service) gained 0.2 percent. After a decline in sales in the previous year, the DHL competitor wants to increase again in the current year./bek/nas
— By Benjamin Krieger, dpa-AFX —
