US stocks waver; tech and retailers rise but banks fall

UNITED STATES stocks were mixed Tuesday after posting solid gains over the last two days. Technology companies and consumerfocused companies rose further and the smallest companies made gains. Banks slipped as bond yields decreased. Oil prices continued to decline. Twitter rose after being added to the S&P 500 index.

The S&P 500 lost two points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2,744 as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 60 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 24,753. The Nasdaq composite rose 10 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7,616, and the Russell 2000 climbed one point, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,654.

The Nasdaq, which includes a heavy weighting of technology companies, and the Russell, an index comprised of smaller and more US-focused companies, both finished at record highs Monday. The S&P is still 4.5 per cent off the record it set on January 26, and the Dow is seven per cent below the mark it set the same day. Starbucks fell after Howard Schultz said he’s stepping down as the coffee chain’s chairman. Schultz has been chairman of the company since 2000 and oversaw enormous expansion for Starbucks over that time. He stepped away as CEO in 2000 but returned in 2008, and relinquished that title to Kevin Johnson in 2017. The stock lost 2.4 per cent to $55.72.

Oil prices were mixed. Crude recently hit a three-year high but has declined sharply over the past two weeks. US crude picked up 0.3 per cent to $64.93 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 1.2 per cent to $74.35 a barrel in London.

US crude has fallen 10 per cent since it peaked at just over $72 a barrel on May 21.

LATEST RESULTS

S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Monday that Twitter will be added to the benchmark S&P 500 index as of Thursday after Monsanto officially becomes part of Bayer. Twitter rose 5.2 per cent to $39.87. Netflix, which will become part of the S&P 100 index, rose 1.9 per cent to $368.63.

Retailers were in focus as more of them reported their latest quarterly results. G-III Apparel Group climbed 8.3 per cent to $46.43 after it raised its annual profit and sales forecast following a strong first quarter. Ascena Retail and Francesca’s both shook off early losses. Ascena picked up 7.7 per cent to $3.94 and Francesca’s added 4.2 per cent to $6.35. Genesco skidded 11.9 per cent to $39.65 after it reported weak sales.

Other retailers and consumer-focused companies also rose. Amazon was on track for another record high as it rose 1.1 per cent to $1,683.14, while Target gained 2.3 per cent to $78.14 and Macy’s jumped 6.2 per cent to $39.41.

Chipmaker Texas Instruments added 1.2 per cent to $117.08 and eBay gained 2.4 per cent to $40. Apple and Microsoft, which also set record highs Monday, continued to climb. Apple climbed 0.7 per cent to $193.23 and Microsoft advanced 0.5 per cent to $102.13.

Mylan climbed 6.3 per cent to $40.92 after federal regulators approved its version of Amgen’s anti-infection drug Neulasta. The Mylan drug, Fulphila, is called a biosimilar, meaning it’s the generic equivalent of a complex biotech drug, and it’s approved to reduce the risks of infections during treatment for cancer. Amgen lost three per cent to $179.95.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.91 per cent from 2.94 per cent.

The dollar rose to 109.69 yen from 109.58 yen. The euro fell to $1.1675 from $1.1719.