Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Stocks held back by slumps for energy, auto parts companies
NEW YORK » U.S. stock indexes were mixed Wednesday as energy companies skidded along with oil prices, but technology stocks rose and reversed a portion of their recent losses.
After O’Reilly Automotive reported weak sales growth in the second quarter, the three biggest losers on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index were all auto parts companies. Car makers slumped, too.
An eight-day rally in U.S. crude oil prices ended with a thud and energy companies took sharp losses. Retailers and small, domestically-focused companies also struggled.
Technology companies bucked the trend and finished higher. Those companies have hit a wall in the last month. Banks and industrial and health care companies also rose on another quiet day of trading after the Independence Day holiday.
The Federal Reserve is trying to decide when it will start letting its $4.5 trillion bond portfolio shrink. Some Fed officials want to announce the start of that process within a few months, according to minutes from the central bank’s June meeting, while others want to wait longer.
“The Fed seems to be a little bit divided over what it’s going to do,” said Doug Burtnick, deputy head of North American equities for Aberdeen Asset Management. He said that division makes investors put more emphasis on economic reports and other data.
“You’re going to see a lot of pieces as early as next week because that’s when you’re going to start seeing a lot of earnings reports from banks,” Burtnick added, and Wall Street will get a clearer view of how much money banks are lending.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 4.55 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,432.54. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 1.10 points to 21,478.17. Nasdaq composite rose 40.80 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,150.86. The Russell 2000 index of smallercompany stocks sank 6.54 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,420.15.
Benchmark U.S. crude dropped $1.94, or 4.1 percent, to $45.13 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, sank $1.82, or 3.7 percent, to $47.79 a barrel in London. U.S. crude reached an annual low in late June, and then jumped 11 percent over the next eight trading days.
Hess fell $2.06, or 4.5 percent, to $43.36 and Exxon Mobil shed $1.25, or 1.5 percent, to $80.85.
O’Reilly Automotive said sales were sluggish at its older locations over the last three months because of weak demand and the ef-
fects of a mild winter. Its stock lost $41.64, or 18.9 percent, to $178.77.
Advance Auto Parts gave up $13.20, or 11.1 percent, to $105.21 and AutoZone slid $54.88, or 9.6 percent, to $516.83. Those three companies
have each plunged more than 30 percent this year as investors worry about the effects of slowing car sales.
Tesla took its biggest loss in a year after as investors were disappointed with the company’s second-quarter production and delivery totals. The electric car maker’s stock dropped $25.53, or 7.2 percent, to $327.09.