Indexes end week on losing note
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks slumped Friday as financial and health care companies moved lower. Industrial companies rose as stocks continued the up-and-down pattern they’ve been stuck in for the past month.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7.15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,348.69. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 30.95 points, or 0.2 percent, to 20,547.76. The Nasdaq composite fell 6.26 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,910.52. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 4.30 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,379.85.
Stocks slumped in morning trading as banks fell in tandem with bond yields and interest rates and energy companies sank with oil prices.
Strong results from Honeywell and aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins helped industrial firms. Toymaker Mattel plunged after it reported its second disappointing quarter in a row. Stocks climbed in the final minutes of trading and left the Standard & Poor’s 500 index 1 percent higher for the week.
President Donald Trump gave the market positive energy in the afternoon when he said his administration will release a tax reform proposal next week that includes a large tax cut. He didn’t provide details.
“I don’t think anything’s actually going to happen or be implemented any time soon,” said Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
Shares of financial companies fell. Professional services firm Marsh & McLennan skidded $1.41, or 1.9 percent, to $71.88 and wealth management company Morgan Stanley dipped 70 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $41.80. Bank of America fell 36 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $22.72.
Bond prices rose early on but wound up little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 2.24 percent.
Health care companies moved lower. Shares of biotech drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals fell $1.90, or 1.6 percent, to $116.82 and Merck declined 66 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $61.89. Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts dipped 59 cents to $66.46.
Stocks did well this week, but they’ve wandered up and down over the past few weeks. That may persist. Next Friday the government will release its report on first-quarter gross domestic product growth, something investors pay a lot of attention to. On the same day, the federal government is scheduled to reach its borrowing limit, which could trigger a government shutdown unless Congress agrees to extend it.
“The stock market’s been willing to wait to see what, if anything, comes out of Washington,” said Wells Fargo’s Wren. He adds that stock prices aren’t too high even though they’ve been breaking records lately.
Next week the market may also react to the first round of voting in the French presidential election. Polls among the top four candidates are fairly close, and a good showing by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen or leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, as opposed to their more centrist rivals, could unsettle investors.
Mattel, the largest toy company in the U.S., said its sales dropped 15 percent in the fiscal first quarter as it continued to deal with effects of poor sales over the holiday season. The company’s revenue totaled $735.6 million, which was $67 million less than expected, according to FactSet. The stock fell $3.42, or 13.6 percent, to $21.79.
Benchmark U.S. crude shed $1.09, or 2.1 percent, to $49.62 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell $1.03, or 1.9 percent, to $51.96 a barrel in London.