Stocks mixed after Texas storm
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks finished little changed on Monday as investors focused on the effects of Tropical Storm Harvey. Insurance companies and oil drillers stumbled while refineries rose along with gasoline prices.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.19 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,444.24. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 5.27 points to 21,808.40. The Nasdaq composite rose 17.37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,283.02. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 4.78 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,382.23. Most of the stocks on the New York Stock Exchange fell.
With August coming to a close, Monday was one of the quietest days of the year on Wall Street. Biotech drug companies rose after hepatitis C and HIV drug maker Gilead Sciences agreed to buy cancer drug maker Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion. Travel booking website Expedia tumbled as investors expected the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Dara Khosrowshahi, to leave the company to become CEO of ride-sharing company Uber.
Lacking other major corporate or economic news, investors mostly focused on Harvey, which continues to hit parts of the Gulf Coast with historically heavy rains. Large parts of the energy and petrochemical industries are based there and companies with a lot of stores in the area stand to lose business. While higher gas prices will be temporary, other effects of the storm will last for years.
“There will be ripple effects that everyone is going to feel,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer for BMO Capital Markets. He said that could include higher insurance premiums, as the storm is likely to cause tens of billions of dollars in flood damage. Ablin added that the storm might affect interest rates as well, as the Federal Reserve might hesitate to raise interest rates if they think the storm will slow the economy significantly.
Shares of Helmerich & Payne, an oil and gas well drilling contractor, fell $1.29, or 2.9 percent, to $43.49.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.30, or 2.7 percent, to $46.57 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 52 cents, or 1 percent, to $51.89 a barrel in London.
Insurance companies declined as investors worried that flooding from Harvey will lead to big losses. Travelers shares slumped $3.24, or 2.6 percent, to $123.23 and Progressive shed $1.09, or 2.3 percent, to $47.31.
Gold rose $17.40, or 1.3 percent, to $1,315.30 an ounce, its highest price in 11 months. Silver gained 39 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $17.44 an ounce. Copper picked up 3 cents, or 1 percent, to $3.06 a pound.
In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1 cent to $1.64 a gallon. Natural gas added 3 cents to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.16 percent from 2.17 percent.
The CAC 40 in France fell 0.5 percent and the DAX in Germany sank 0.4 percent. British markets were closed for a public holiday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index took a negligible loss and the South Korean Kospi lost 0.4 percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose less than 0.1 percent.