Stocks edge lower ahead of earnings, inflation data
S&P declines for third straight day, undoing last week’s gains
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street after a wobbly day of trading Tuesday as investors wait for more data on inflation and corporate earnings this week.
The major indexes wavered between small gains and losses for much of the day, before the selling gained momentum in the final minutes of trading. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 percent after having been up 0.3 percent in the early going.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1 percent. Small company stocks, a gauge of confidence in economic growth, fared better than the broader market, driving the Russell 2000 index 0.6 percent higher.
Technology, communication and health care companies accounted for much of the losses in the S&P 500. Intel closed 2.4 percent lower, while AT&T slid 2.3 percent and Google’s parent company Alphabet dropped 1.8 percent. Johnson & Johnson fell 1.6 percent.
A mix of retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending gained ground. Ford rose 3.6 percent and Lowe’s added 0.5 percent. Real estate and utilities stocks also rose.
The pullback in the S&P 500 marked the index’s third straight decline. After two days, the index’s losses have offset its 0.8 percent gain last week.
The selling suggests investors are worried that they will be disappointed by the upcoming third-quarter company earnings reporting season, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.
“Investors are looking at higher rates, higher inflation, higher oil prices, and thinking the worst,” Stovall said. “But when we see other factors, such as small-caps
doing well or the market not really falling as much as it could, that sort of indicates to me that there is underlying strength and that investors are just waiting for a better reentry point.”
The S&P 500 fell 10.54 points to 4,350.65. The Dow dropped 117.72 points to 34,378.34. The
Nasdaq slipped 20.28 points to 14,465.92. The Russell 2000 rose 13.63 points to 2,234.27. European and Asian markets closed mostly lower.