Dow notches 14th record of 2018 as index shakes off Italian drama; Nasdaq and S&P 500 lag

The Dow Jones Industrial Average outstripped its equity benchmark peers on Tuesday to notch its 14th record close of 2018 even as the broader market slumped amid worries on China-U.S. trade relations and a simmering crisis emanating from Italy. The Dow closed up 123 points, or 0.5%, to close at 26,773, moving within range of a breach above a psychological milestone at 27,000. powered by gains in industrial components Boeing Co. 3M Co. and Caterpillar Inc. . The climb represented the blue-chip index's 14th all-time high of the year. However, the S&P 500 index ended the session flat at 2,923, but not far from a record of its own as a sharp decline in consumer-discretionary shares pressured the index lower. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished off 0.5% at 7,999. The moves come a day after the revamped North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico helped to underpin a mostly upbeat atmosphere on Wall Street, which outweighed worries about Italy, which has clashed with the European Union after EU officials claimed that the third-largest member of the trade bloc has violated fiscal rules with its recent budget plan. In corporate news, shares of Amazon.com Inc. fell 1.7% as the retailer announced that it was raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, while shares of Stitch Fix Inc. tumbled more than 35% after releasing its quarterly results.

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