NEW YORK – U.S. stocks are on track for their biggest losses in two months Thursday as technology and industrial companies and banks slump. Republicans in Congress say they might delay their proposed corporate tax cut to 2019, and investors are selling some of the stocks that have done the best this year. Media companies are rising after Twenty-First Century Fox posted strong results in its latest quarter.
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KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 15 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,579 as of 3 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 130 points, or 0.6 percent, to 23,432. Earlier it fell as much as 253 points. The Nasdaq composite slid 57 points, or 0.8 percent, to 6,732. Each closed at an all-time high on Wednesday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,471, its lowest level since late September.
Investors sold some of the stocks that have done the best this year, including technology and basic materials companies, but they didn’t put much money into safer investments like bonds or gold.
WAIT A MINUTE: Senate Republicans are rolling out their own tax bill, which would delay the corporate tax rate cut until 2019, instead 2018 under the House bill. Both bills would lower that rate to 20 percent from 35 percent. Postponing the tax cut would reduce the costs of the bill, which is projected to add more than $1 trillion to the U.S. debt.
“Most investors knew there was uncertainty about the specific provisions, but thought that the House and the Senate would at least agree there would be some kind of cut in corporate tax rates in 2018,” said Kate Warne, an investment strategist at Edward Jones.
While it’s been a few months since stocks fell this much, it’s not a big drop by historic standards. Warne said investors hope taxes will be cut, but they haven’t invested much money in stocks on that basis.
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BUMP IN THE ROAD: The stocks that fell the most Thursday wouldn’t benefit that much from a cut in U.S. taxes. The proposed tax cut might help more U.S.-focused companies like regional banks and smaller firms, but those companies didn’t fare worse than the rest of the market. Instead, the worst losses went to multinational firms. Warne said Thursday’s news is making investors a bit more cautious, but the possibly delayed tax cut isn’t why they’re selling technology and industrial companies.
Google’s parent company Alphabet tumbled $14.54, or 1.4 percent, to $1,043.7, while payment company eBay lost $1.24, or 3.4 percent, to $35.77. Microsoft slipped 70 cents to $83.86. In the industrial sector, machinery maker Caterpillar gave up $2.29, or 1.7 percent, to $135 and jet engine and elevator maker United Technologies skidded $2.03, or 1.7 percent, to $118.26.
TUNING IN: Media companies bucked the trend. Twenty-First Century Fox jumped $1.14, or 4.1 percent, to $29.23. Fox posted a bigger profit and more revenue than investors expected. Analysts said its cable networks did well, and it didn’t lose subscribers the way some of its competitors have done recently. Elsewhere cable provider Comcast gained 59 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $36.80. Walt Disney, which was reported this week to be interested in buying most of Fox’s entertainment assets, added $1.90, or 1.9 percent, to $103.08.
DEPARTMENT STORES: Macy’s surged $1.95, or 11.1 percent, to $19.52 after its third-quarter profit was greater than expected. Competitor Kohl’s reversed most of an early loss and slipped 14 cents to $40.65. Other retailers like Dillard’s rose as well. Macy’s and Kohl’s have both fallen sharply and often disappointed Wall Street as they deal with falling sales and growing competition from online retailers. Macy’s has lost almost half its value this year and Kohl’s is down 16 percent.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 36 cents to $57.17 a barrel in the New York. This week oil has been trading at its highest prices since the middle of 2015. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 44 cents to $63.93 a barrel in London.
Wholesale gasoline held steady at $1.82 a gallon. Heating oil rose 3 cents to $1.95 a gallon. Natural gas climbed 3 cents to $3.20 per 1,000 cubic feet.
METALS: Gold rose $3.80 to $1,287.50 an ounce. Silver lost 16 cents to $16.98 an ounce. Copper dipped 1 cent to $3.09 a pound.
BONDS: Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note fell to 1.64 percent from 1.65 percent. The yield on the 10-year note remained at 2.33 percent.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 113.22 yen from 113.78 yen. The euro rose to $1.1647 from $1.1596.
OVERSEAS: European stocks also sank. Germany’s DAX gave up 1.5 percent and the CAC 40 in France dropped 1.2 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.6 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index surged as much as 2 percent early on but finished with a loss of 0.2 percent. The Kospi in South Korea lost 0.1 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.8 percent.
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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
