U.S. stock indexes wavered between small gains and losses in early trading Thursday after several big companies reported disappointing quarterly results or outlooks. Losses in food and beverage stocks and other consumer-goods companies outweighed gains in energy and other sectors. Bond prices fell, sending yields higher.
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KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 1 point, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,822 as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 3 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 26,145. The Nasdaq shed 1 point, or less than 0.1 percent, to 7,409. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,572.
DELIVERING A DUD: United Parcel Service slumped 6.4 percent after it said that higher costs affected its business in the fourth quarter. The stock was down $8.21 to $119.11.
OUTBID: PayPal slid 8.5 percent after eBay said it would move to a different payment processor. PayPal shares gave up $7.21 to $78.11.
FUDGED IT: Hershey shares fell after the company’s latest quarterly results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The stock lost $5.60 to $104.73.
CHIPPER RESULTS: Qorvo jumped 14.3 percent after the chipmaker served up solid quarterly results. The stock gained $10.28 to $82.05.
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OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 52 cents to $65.25 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 66 cents to $69.55 per barrel in London.
BOND YIELDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.73 percent from 2.71 percent late Wednesday.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to $109.41 yen from 109.11 yen on Wednesday. The euro strengthened to $1.2449 from $1.2410.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: Major stock indexes in Europe declined. Germany’s DAX lost 1.1 percent, while France’s CAC 40 slid 0.5 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2 percent. Markets in Asia finished mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7 percent and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.8 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9 percent. Stocks in Southeast Asia were higher.
