NEW YORK – U.S. stock indexes are slipping back from record highs Tuesday as banks and small companies fall. Travel booking sites Priceline and TripAdvisor are taking steep losses following their third-quarter reports and retailers are falling too. Companies that pay big dividends, including utilities, are making gains. Oil prices are down slightly after they jumped to two-year highs a day ago.
Continue Reading Below
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,586 as of 3 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 26 points, or 0.1 percent, to 23,521. The Nasdaq composite fell 26 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,759. Smaller companies were on track for their worst loss since early August. The Russell 2000 index tumbled 18 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,479 as Wall Street continued to watch for signs of progress by House Republicans on their proposed tax cuts. Investors feel smaller and more U.S.-focused companies could benefit the most from a corporate tax cut.
IN DECLINE: Banks fell along with bond yields and interest rates. Both have moved lower over the last few days, which reduces the profits banks make from lending. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.31 percent from 2.32 percent.
JPMorgan Chase fell $2.15, or 2.1 percent, to $98.63 and U.S. Bancorp lost $1.31, or 2.4 percent, to $53.54. Bank of America gave up 70 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $27.05. First Financial Bancshares, a Texas-based bank, fell $1.10, or 2.4 percent, to $44.45.
Among smaller companies, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers plunged after it slashed its profit forecast. It pointed to higher labor costs and said it will stop opening new locations at the end of its next fiscal year. The stock lost $18.75, or 28 percent, to $48.30. Consumer products distributor Core-Mark fell $3.5, or 10.4 percent, to $30.20 after it cut its outlook.
TRAVELING MOOD: Travel website TripAdvisor plunged after its third-quarter revenue fell short of analyst estimates. Booking service Priceline Group had a better-than-expected quarter, but its forecasts for the current quarter disappointed Wall Street. Analysts said the company is spending a lot of money on advertising, but that may pay off with increased market share. TripAdvisor sank $8.62, or 21.8 percent, to $30.91 and Priceline lost $254.20, or 13.4 percent, to $1,648.80.
Continue Reading Below
ADVERTISEMENT
TECH RALLY FADES: Chipmaker Skyworks Solutions fell $6.03, or 5.2 percent, to $110.30 and Microchip Technology gave up $4.08, or 4.3 percent, to $91.28 after their quarterly reports. Semiconductor makers jumped Monday on deal reports in the industry. The losses took technology companies slightly lower and threatened to end an eight-day winning streak. The stocks have been setting record highs throughout the run and technology companies have done far better than the rest of the market all year.
MOVING UP: Household goods makers, utilities, and other companies that pay big dividends did better than the rest of the market. Drugstore and pharmacy benefits company CVS Health jumped $2.10, or 3.1 percent, to $68.90 to recover some of its recent losses. Shopping mall operator GGP climbed $1.56, or 8.2 percent, to $20.57.
Real estate, household goods and phone companies have lagged far behind the S&P 500 this year. The stocks are generally seen as cautious investments, and investors have been betting on improved economic growth rather than looking for safety.
SLIMMED DOWN: Weight loss company Weight Watchers continued to surge after it raised its forecasts for the year. Its stock rose $7.66, or 17.1 percent, to $52.46. It started the year at $11.45.
MALLIN-CRUSHED: Drugmaker Mallinckrodt plunged after it said sales of its costly HP Acthar gel have been hurt because fewer prescriptions are being filled. It said revenue from the drug will decline in the fourth quarter. The company also reported weaker sales of generic drugs. Already trading at all-time lows, the stock dropped $11.14, or 35.7 percent, to $20.04.
OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 15 cents to $57.20 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dipped 58 cents to $63.69 a barrel in London. Oil prices rose about 3 percent Monday and hit two-year highs after a wave of arrests of princes and other officials in Saudi Arabia. Investors wondered if the upheaval could affect oil supplies and prices.
Wholesale gasoline lost 1 cent to $1.82 a gallon. Heating oil fell 2 cents to $1.92 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2 cents to $3.15 per 1,000 cubic feet.
METALS: Gold lost $5.80 to $1,275.80 an ounce. Silver fell 30 cents to $16.94 an ounce. Copper declined 7 cents to $3.09 a pound.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 113.86 yen from 113.77 yen. The euro fell to $1.1588 from $1.1606.
OVERSEAS: European stocks fell. The British FTSE 100 and the German DAX each shed 0.7 percent. The CAC 40 in France lost 0.5 percent. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.3 percent. In Seoul, the Kospi lost 0.2 percent.
___
AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jayt
