Stock markets mixed as tech stocks rise; Netflix leaps

Technology and consumer-focused companies led the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq composite higher Tuesday while the Dow Jones industrial average fell. Netflix soared after saying it gained more than 8 million subscribers at the end of 2017.

Health care and household goods companies fell after Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble gave disappointing quarterly reports.

U.S. solar power companies spiked after President Donald Trump approved tariffs on imported solar-energy components. Some investors were relieved: analysts said the tariffs will make production more expensive for U.S. companies, but they weren’t as harsh as they could have been. Companies that do their manufacturing overseas finished lower and some of the U.S. companies gave up their gains before trading ended.

“You could probably argue that this particular tariff is the first implementation of the protectionist rhetoric that he ran on,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. That didn’t worry investors, but Frederick said stocks might decline if there are signs other countries are retaliating or the administration takes more aggressive steps.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 0.2 percent, to 2,839.13. The Dow fell 3.79 points to 26,210.81, pulled lower by Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble’s losses. The Nasdaq composite jumped 0.7 percent, to 7,460.29. — AP