Wall Street closes mixed as investor digest political developments

• Concerns over a trade war between US & China escalate.
• Tech drags Nasdaq lower amid heavy sell-off of chipmakers.
• Financials lift Dow higher, S&P pares early gains.

Major equity indexes in the United States failed to set a clear trend for the second day in a row as investors assessed the recent developments.

Speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that U.S. trade authorities were investigating whether there is a case for taking action over China’s infringements of intellectual property, as reported by Reuters, escalating concerns over a potential trade war between the U.S. & China. 

“The trend is higher, and it is so universally, and with such conviction believed that any meaningful pullback is going to be aborted because investors simply don’t want to miss out. So we are not seeing that healthy pullback that most investors would actually welcome," Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group in New York, told Reuters on Wednesday. 

The risk-sensitive S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (SPLRCT) closed the day nearly 1% lower. Furthermore, chip maker Texas Instruments' shares lost more than 8% on the day after the company reported a disappointing revenue growth. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 44.19 points, or 0.59%, to 7,416.10.

On the other hand, boosted by the strong performance of the US T-bond yields, banks shares gained traction, assisting the S&P 500 Financials Sector (SPSY) finish the day with a 0.7% increase and allowing the financial-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average to outperform the other major indexes by adding 64.92 points, or 0.25%, to 26,275.73. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 was virtually unchanged at 2,838.44 points at the end of the day.