U.S. stocks dip from record highs
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks mostly slipped away from their latest record highs Wednesday as the two former halves of Hewlett-Packard both tumbled, while falling interest rates helped phone companies but hurt banks.
The price of oil jumped on reports OPEC and a group of other countries might extend the cuts in production they made at the start of this year. That took energy companies higher. Hewlett Packard Enterprise sank after it said Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman will retire, while printer and PC maker HP lost ground after its latest quarterly report.
Interest rates fell after the Federal Reserve released minutes from its latest meeting, which ended Nov. 1. While most officials were comfortable raising interest rates soon, as investors think they will do in December, a few Fed leaders wanted to wait until there is more evidence inflation is rising. The Fed has suggested it wants to raise rates three more times next year.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 1.95 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,597.08. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 64.65 points, or 0.3 percent, to 23,526.18. The Nasdaq composite rose 4.88 points, or 0.1 percent, to a record 6,867.36. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 2.13 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,516.76.
All four indexes closed at record highs Tuesday, and on Wednesday most of the companies on the New York Stock Exchange finished higher.
U.S. markets will be closed today for the Thanksgiving holiday. They will reopen Friday but will close at noon.
The two main companies that once comprised HewlettPackard took the largest losses in the S&P 500. Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which sells data-center hardware and tech gear, dropped after it announced company President Antonio Neri will replace Whitman as CEO Feb 1. Whitman became CEO of HewlettPackard in 2011 and oversaw its split in 2015. HPE also reported mixed fourth-quarter results.
Analysts said they were surprised by the timing because Whitman suggested last month that she wasn’t leaving soon. Like several other analysts, Steven Milunovich of UBS said Neri is a good choice, but that Whitman will be hard to replace.
HP Enterprise fell $1.02, or 7.2 percent, to $13.10. Meanwhile HP Inc., which sells PCs and printers, had a solid quarter but couldn’t sustain the gains it’s made this year. The stock lost $1.12, or 5 percent, to $21.34. It’s up 44 percent in 2017.
Bond prices started the day with small gains, which sent yields lower. Yields moved lower still as investors looked over the Federal Reserve minutes. The Fed has already raised interest rates twice this year in spite of low inflation, and Wren, of Wells Fargo, said investors may get jumpy as they examine economic data in the next few weeks and try to figure out how fast the Fed will move next year.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.32 percent from 2.36 percent. That sent banks lower because lower yields translate to smaller profits on loans. Cincinnati Financial fell 80 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $72.66. Phone companies, which pay big dividends similar to bonds, climbed higher. Verizon Communications rose 92 cents, or 2 percent, to $47.10.
U.S. crude rose $1.19, or 2.1 percent, to $58.02 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 75 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $63.32 a barrel in London. Both oil benchmarks are at two-year highs.