S&P 500, Dow pull back from record highs as shutdown worries loom

The S&P 500 and the Dow retreated from record closing highs on Tuesday as surging cases of Covid-19 and the growing threat of a fresh round of economic lockdowns and weak retail sales data dampened the euphoria caused by potential vaccine breakthroughs.

The broad sell-off was a reversal of Monday's rally, in which the blue-chip Dow reached its first record closing high since before the pandemic.The Nasdaq was essentially flat, its losses capped by surging Tesla Inc shares.

"We're seeing profit taking after some substantial gains, and we had mixed macro news," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities