Nasdaq notches 3-day winning streak; stocks close mixed

• U.S. equities closed mixed on Tuesday as investors continued to shrug off news coming out of Washington.
• The S&P 500 posted a new intraday record while the Nasdaq composite notched a three-day winning streak as well as intraday and closing records.

U.S. equities closed mixed on Tuesday as investors continued to shrug off news coming out of Washington.

The S&P slipped 0.1 percent after hitting an all-time intraday high, with utilities leading decliners. "You're at a point where we have enough cash that wants to come into the market, but valuations are high," said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt. "That's why we can't go much higher."

Health care was also among the laggards, dropping 0.4 percent after Pfizer's stock was downgraded to sell from neutral at Citi.

Bob Phillips, managing principal at Spectrum Management Group, said the fall in health care is also reflective of uncertainty surrounding government legislation on health care.

A bill aimed at repealing and replacing Obamacare after it passed the House, but Phillips said: "What the Senate is going to do [on health care] is anybody's guess."

The Nasdaq composite managed record highs on an intraday and closing basis, rising 0.3 percent. The tech-heavy index also posted a three-day winning streak and has closed higher in eight of the last 10 sessions.

The S&P and Nasdaq have managed record highs recently despite an array of mixed news coming out of Washington.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Last week, President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and, on Tuesday, he defended his sharing of reportedly highly classified information with Russian officials via Twitter.

Trump Tweet: As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining....

Trump tweet: ...to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.

Later on Tuesday the New York Times first reported that Israel was the ally that collected the highly classified intelligence Trump allegedly shared.

"On balance, we've got a market that seems impervious to what's going on in Washington," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. "I think the market's keying on Washington's ability to push tax reform."

The rise in stocks has not been a sharp one, but rather a slow and steady grind, said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial. In an email to CNBC, he pointed out that the S&P had gone 14 straight sessions without a 0.5 percent close up or down as of Monday's close.

"That hasn't happened in nearly 22 years, showing just how rare the past few weeks have been," Detrick said. "Although it can feel like watching paint dry, it is important to remember that some of the strongest bull markets tend to take place in dull markets. Big swings and huge daily gains and losses aren't the hallmark of bull markets."

The Dow Jones industrial average closed flat, with IBM contributing the most gains and UnitedHealth the most losses.

Home Depot also contributed gains on the Dow after reporting first-quarter earnings of $1.67 a share on revenue of $23.89 billion. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a profit of $1.62 per share on sales of $23.74 billion. Home Depot's stock rose about 1.5 percent.

"HD continues to set the pace in home improvement retail. While a rising tide in the category is benefitting the company, HD continues to execute at the top of its game, driving market share gains and posting record results," Wedbush analyst Seth Basham said in a note.

In economic news, housing starts totaled 1.172 million in April, well below the expected 1.26 million. Meanwhile, industrial production rose 1 percent, more than the expected increase of 0.4 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.19 points, or 0.01 percent to close at 20,979.75, with UnitedHealth leading decliners and Microsoft outperforming.

The S&P 500 dipped 1.65 points, or 0.07 percent, to end at 2,400.67, with utilities leading nine sectors lower and financials and information technology as the only advancers.

The Nasdaq advanced 20.20 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 6,169.87.

About four stocks declined for every three advancers at the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 792.30 million and a composite volume of 3.406 billion at the close.

On tap this week:

Tuesday

Earnings: Urban Outfitters, Jack in the Box, Vodafone, Staples, Manchester United

Wednesday

Earnings: Target, L Brands, Cisco System, Tencent, American Eagle Outfitters, Flower Foods, ZTO Express, Rexnord

7:00 a.m. Mortgage applications

Thursday

Earnings: Wal-Mart, Alibaba, Applied Materials, Autodesk, Salesforce.com, Gap, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, McKesson, Ross Stores, Buckle, Eagle Materials

8:30 a.m. Initial claims

8:30 a.m. Philadelphia Fed survey

1:00 p.m. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester

Friday

Earnings: Campbell Soup, Deere, Foot Locker

9:15 a.m. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard