S&P 500 erases earlier loss as Apple recovery overshadows Spain

Stocks were mixed on Tuesday as investors decided to wait for Wednesday's presidential debate to determine if either candidate is able to sway voters in their direction.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32.75 points to 13,482.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 6.51 points to 3,120.04, and the S&P 500 Stock Index was up 1.26 points to 1,445.75.

Sales of vehicles by U.S. and foreign manufacturers rose in September. Chrysler showed the biggest gain among domestic manufacturers, with sales up 12 percent. The biggest increases were from foreign car companies like Volkswagen (PNK: VLKPY), with sales up 34 percent, and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), up 42 percent.

Commodities traded lower Tuesday. Gold dropped $7.70 to $1,775.60 an ounce, and oil slipped 59 cents to $91.89 a barrel.

“Spain took down the market, but people looked past it and found some good entry points in technology stocks,” said Frank Ingarra, who helps manage $1.4 billion at Greenwich, Conn.-based NorthCoast Asset Management LLC. “Apple is such a big part of the market and it’s been on a downtrend for a couple of days, so it makes sense for the stock to get some relief and rebound, which would translate into the indexes.”

“It’s a balance of sentiment among people who think that the market still has further upside to the S&P 500 to 1,550 this year, and those that are a little cautious” ahead of Friday’s employment report, said Michael James, a managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), the largest company by market value, rose 0.3 percent to $661.31 after briefly dipping below its average price from the past 50 days. The company had declined 6.1 percent since reaching a record high of $702.10 on Sept. 19. The shares are still up 63 percent in 2012.

MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) surged 18 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $13.57. Deutsche Telekom (PNK: DTEGY) said the plan includes putting its T-Mobile USA unit and MetroPCS into one entity in which the German company will hold the majority of shares. Deutsche Telekom’s supervisory board is scheduled to meet Wednesday to approve the transaction, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the details are confidential.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, declined 5.4 percent to $4.90 for the biggest decline in the S&P 500.

PetSmart Inc. (Nasdaq: PETM) gained 1.5 percent to $68.55. The pet retailer will replace Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN) in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Thursday, according to a statement from the index provider.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) slid 4.2 percent after hedge fund manager David Einhorn recommended betting against the restaurant chain. Einhorn, who helps oversee $7.7 billion as president of Greenlight Capital Inc., said Tuesday at the Value Investing Congress in New York that the company has too high of a valuation and will face challenges from Yum Brands Inc.’s (NYSE: YUM) Taco Bell chain. Chipotle trades for about 36 times earnings, compared with a multiple of 14.7 for the S&P 500.

Investors should buy General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) as shares of the largest U.S. automaker are inexpensive and its European operations may break even in 2015, Einhorn said. Shares of GM climbed 2.6 percent to $23.68 even as the automaker announced September sales that missed analysts’ estimates.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) declined 3.9 percent to $55.76. The fertilizer producer reported fiscal first-quarter profit and revenue that missed analysts’ estimates after prices and volumes declined.

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI) tumbled 27 percent, the most since its 2007 initial public offering, to $26.21. Vanguard Group Inc., the largest U.S. mutual-fund provider, will drop the company as the benchmark provider for 22 index funds holding about $537 billion in assets, to cut costs for fund shareholders over time.

Fifth & Pacific Cos. (NYSE: FNP) slumped 11 percent to $11.32. The owner of fashion labels, including Kate Spade and Lucky Brand, cut its profit forecast because of sliding sales of its Juicy Couture line.

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