US stocks trade mixed as business activity improves while earnings season heats up

• US stocks recovered some early losses to close mixed on Tuesday as a key indicator showed improvement.
• S&P Global's US purchasing manager indexes ticked higher, but remained in negative territory.

US stocks were mixed at the close on Tuesday, as a key economic indicator showed improvement while investors digested a tranche of industrial earnings.

S&P Global's US purchasing manager indexes for January ticked higher, but remained in negative territory.

Meanwhile, 3M missed earnings views, while revenue beat expectations. The company also announced layoffs on Tuesday. But General Electric and Lockheed Martin beat fourth-quarter estimates.

The New York Stock Exchange experienced a hiccup during the session with dozens of stocks including AT&T, Morgan Stanley and Verizon halted due to a technical issue.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 4,016.95, down 0.07%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,733.96, up 0.31% (104.40 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,334.27, down 0.27%

Here's what else happened today:

• Bank of America analysts said companies are lowering their expectations for earnings in 2023.
• Binance processed nearly $350 million in bitcoin for Russian 'money laundering engine' Bitzlato, according to Reuters.
• Warren Buffett-backed BYD could see a major expansion in Europe as the company is in talks to purchase a German plant from Ford.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.22% to $79.78 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, declined 2.59% to $85.90.
• Gold ticked up 0.30% to $1,937.21 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury was slipped 5.7 basis points to 3.466%.
• Bitcoin fell 0.13% to $22,969.47.