Stocks and crude post modest declines
Energy companies led U.S. stock indexes slightly lower Monday as the price of crude oil fell.
Real estate, phone companies and other highdividend stocks did better than the rest of the market as bond yields headed lower, making those sectors more appealing to investors seeking income.
Investors focused on the latest batch of company earnings and deal news. They also had their eye on Washington, where President Donald Trump reaffirmed plans to slash regulations on businesses and tax foreign goods entering the country.
“There was that huge rally post-election, and things really were running on optimism. What you’re seeing now is people coming back to the idea that the policies aren’t exactly clear,”said Lisa Kopp, head of traditional investments at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, adding that Trump’s ability “to actually push everything through exactly the way he wants is uncertain.”
Oil fell for the first time in three days after U.S. drillers added the most rigs in more than three years, making it difficult for OPEC to drain a global oversupply.
Futures fell 0.9 percent in New York. Companies in the U.S. put 29 more oil rigs to work in the week that ended Jan. 20, the most since April 2013, data from Baker Hughes showed last week. OPEC and other producers have cut oil supply by 1.5 million barrels a day, more than 80 percent of their collective target, since a deal to trim output took effect on Jan. 1, Saudi Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih said in Vienna.
“Prices at these levels allow shale producers to profit from increasing output,” said Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist in Seattle at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $133 billion. “We’re seeing this reflected in the rising rig count and increases in 2017 investment plans.”