NEW YORK -- Stocks faded Tuesday afternoon and finished the day mostly lower as industrial companies and retailers fell. Smaller and more U.S.-focused companies slumped after setting records the last few days.
The S&P 500 index slid 8.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,724.44. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 178.88 points, or 0.7 percent, to 24,834.41. The Nasdaq composite fell 15.58 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,378.46. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 12.20 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,625.24 after it closed at record highs the last four days.
Large industrial companies like Boeing, 3M and Caterpillar slipped, and retailers including Kohl's, AutoZone and Advance Auto Parts fell after releasing their quarterly results. Energy companies fell as crude oil gave up an early gain. Smaller companies had their worst day of the month as a winning streak that brought them to all-time highs came to an end.
For most of the day stocks were on track for small gains. Automakers rose after China said it will reduce duties on imported cars in July, a sign the U.S. and China could resolve some of their differences on trade. Banks climbed as Congress prepared to loosen some of the rules that have governed the industry since the 2008 financial crisis.
Stocks rose Monday as investors grew more hopeful that the trade dispute between the U.S. and China will be resolved without major effects on the global economy. But Marina Severinovsky, an investment strategist at Schroders, said the two countries appear to be looking for easy wins without addressing larger and more difficult issues, like China's technology policies and its handling of intellectual property.
That might pacify the market for now because the global economy is doing well, but she thinks tensions will eventually flare up again.
"The more competitive the Chinese become in higher-end industries ... the more this is really going to become an issue," she said. "There will be more industries and companies clamoring for protection."
Jeans retailer Guess fell 7.9 percent to $23.80. Kohl's had a strong second quarter, but said much of that strength came because a Mother's Day-related sale that came earlier in the year. While that helped the company in the fiscal second quarter, it will hurt its sales in the third and fourth quarters. Kohl's sank 7.4 percent to $60.61.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 0.2 percent to $72.13 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 0.4 percent to $79.57 per barrel in London.
Wholesale gasoline rose 0.6 percent to $2.27 a gallon. Heating oil added 0.3 percent to $2.28 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 3.5 percent to $2.91 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,292 an ounce. Silver added 0.3 percent to $16.58 an ounce. Copper rose 1.1 percent to $3.13 a pound.
Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 3.06 percent.
The dollar declined to 111.02 yen from 111.11 yen. The euro rose to $1.1779 from $1.1772.
The German DAX, which was closed for a holiday Monday, jumped 0.7 percent and London's FTSE 100 added 0.2 percent. France's CAC 40 rose less than 0.1 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.2 percent. Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea were closed for holidays.
Business on 05/23/2018