A steep drop in oil prices put investors in a selling mood Tuesday, extending a losing streak for the S&P 500 index to a fourth day.
Energy stocks led a late-afternoon sell-off on Wall Street after the price of U.S. crude oil plunged 7.1 percent to $55.69 a barrel, the lowest level since December 2017.
The S&P 500 index fell 4.04 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,722.18. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 100.69 points, or 0.4 percent, to 25,286.49. Much of that loss was attributable to a drop in Boeing's stock.
The Nasdaq composite was little changed at 7,200.88. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 3.99 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,514.80.
Oil has now fallen for 12 consecutive days, driven by worries about rising production around the world and weakening demand from developing countries.
"You have fears associated with the drop in the price of oil probably moving into the equity market," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. "There's a knee-jerk reaction when you see oil down that it signals economic weakness."
Stocks appeared headed for a rebound early Tuesday after a steep market sell-off a day earlier. Traders drew encouragement from a published report out of China that the country's top economic adviser might visit Washington ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at this month's Group of 20 gathering in Argentina.
The U.S. and China have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods in a dispute over Beijing's technology policies.
"There is some good optimism that there is progress on trade at the G-20 meeting later this month," said Craig Birk, chief investment officer at Personal Capital.
That optimism, however, didn't hold in the face of the steep tumble in oil prices.
"We had overnight strength and strength this morning that then invited more selling," Delwiche said. "And it's all in the context with what's going on with oil, which is making people perhaps more jittery than they would have been otherwise."
Losses in health care companies and consumer goods stocks outweighed gains in banks and industrials Tuesday.
Boeing fell 2.1 percent to $349.51 after published reports that the aircraft manufacturer didn't tell airline pilots about features of a new flight-control system in its 737 MAX that reportedly is a focus of the investigation into last month's deadly crash in Indonesia.
Tyson Foods dropped 5.6 percent to $58.17 after the meat producer's quarterly earnings beat analysts' estimates but revenue fell short. The company also issued a weak outlook, noting that it faced higher labor and freight costs.
Financial-sector stocks moved higher a day after posting big losses. Unum Group added 2.7 percent to close at $38.01.
Advance Auto Parts vaulted 10.6 percent to $184.72 after the retailer reported strong quarterly results and raised its forecast.
General Electric jumped 7.8 percent to $8.61 after disclosing that it will sell up to a 20 percent stake in industrial-services company Baker Hughes. GE, which has been struggling with sagging profits, aims to raise about $4 billion in cash from the sale.
D.R. Horton rose 2.4 percent to $34.69 after the homebuilder agreed to buy Westport Homes, which operates in Indiana and Ohio.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.14 percent from 3.19 percent late Friday. Bond trading was closed Monday in observance of Veterans Day.
The dollar held steady versus the yen at 113.86 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1268 from $1.1240.
Business on 11/14/2018