By Anna Hirtenstein Close Anna Hirtenstein Updated Dec. 8, 2020 12:03 pm ET Major U.S. stock indexes fluctuated between small gains and losses Tuesday, as lawmakers continued their haggling over the fine points of an economic package to combat the latest surge in Covid-19 cases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 91 points to 30160. The broader S&P 500 edged up 0.1%, while weakness among technology stocks pulled the Nasdaq Composite down less than 0.1%. Analysts said investors appeared to tamp down their buying of stocks over the past two trading sessions, putting a recent rally in equities on hold that has pushed the S&P 500 up about 10% since the end of September. The problem, analysts say, is that a multiweek spike in Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations has diminished investors’ prospects of a quick economic recovery. With cases rising across nearly every state in the U.S., several economists and investors say fresh fiscal stimulus from Congress is needed to keep the economy afloat. “The lack of corporate news near term, combined with a focus on stimulus talks and Covid cases could make near-term moves higher more difficult,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest. Lawmakers struggled Monday to resolve one of two big stumbling blocks remaining in their efforts to strike a deal on the emergency-spending program. Congressional leaders said they plan to pass a one-week extension of the government’s current funding to buy more time for negotiations on both bills. The emergency-relief package is “necessary to help the businesses that are suffering right now,” said Gero Jung, chief economist at Mirabaud Asset Management. “There’s been a significant slowdown in labor market improvement so there is still some help needed. It is important, it affects market sentiment.” Despite the rise in coronavirus cases, the U.S. stock market has managed to rally to new heights thanks to advances on the vaccine front, as well as brief signs of progress toward completing another economic aid package. Investors remain bullish about next year, pinning their hopes for further gains on a rebound in corporate earnings, analysts have said. If Covid-19 cases reach a tipping point, analysts say they will have to revise their forecasts. “There is this push and pull between how we’re so nearly there in terms of good news on the vaccine and seeing the end of this, versus another hit to economic output if the vaccine hasn’t happened yet when we get another rise in cases,” said Georgina Taylor, a multiasset fund manager at Invesco. “It is still a real concern for markets.” Those concerns pushed investors to buy more of the stock market’s value constituents, including health, industrial, energy and consumer staple stocks. Shares of fast-growing companies, meanwhile, notched minor declines. The S&P 500 index is on track for a second day of losses. Photo: John Nacion/Zuma Press Tesla, meanwhile, fell 2.4% in recent trading after saying it would sell up to $5 billion of shares over time. Shares of Uber declined about 0.2% after the ride-hailing service sold its self-driving car business to a rival. Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 ticked down 0.1% as investors waited for developments on the Brexit trade-talks. Across Asia, most major benchmarks closed down. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.8%. —Michael Wursthorn contributed to this article. Write to Anna Hirtenstein at anna.hirtenstein@wsj.com Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8