Stocks slip as tech firms, banks drop

U.S. stock indexes edged down for the second day in a row Wednesday as a sharp drop for banks and a rare loss for technology companies canceled out gains for drugmakers and consumerfocused companies.

Banks fell hard as executives from two major banks said their trading businesses are having a rough quarter. An eight-day winning streak for technology firms ended. Energy firms fell with oil prices. Investors picked consumer goods and pharmaceutical firms and high-dividend utilities.

Banks skidded a day earlier as bond yields dropped, forcing down interest rates on loans. Yields were little changed Wednesday, but financial firms fell again as investors worried that banks’ revenue from trading stocks, bonds and currencies will weaken this quarter.

JPMorgan Chase’s chief financial officer said at a conference that JPMorgan’s trading revenue is down about 15% this quarter because of a drop in fixed-income trading. She said that was because of low interest rates and remarkably low market volatility.

Also Wednesday, Bank of America’s chief executive said second-quarter trading revenue will fall 10% from the year-earlier quarter.

JPMorgan Chase shares fell 2.1% to $82.15. Bank of America fell 1.9% to $22.41. Capital One fell 1.7% to $76.92. Goldman Sachs, whose trading business hit a speed bump in the first quarter, slid 3.3% to $211.26.

Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10year Treasury note remained at 2.21%.

Tech firms turned lower. The sector has reached its highest levels since the dotcom boom. Apple and Facebook are up 32% this year, and Google parent Alphabet is up 25%. All three slid Wednesday.

Irish drugmaker Perrigo jumped 7.3% to $72.85 after its first-quarter report beat expectations. Pfizer rose 1.6% to $32.65. Johnson & Johnson rose 0.9% to $128.25.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell 2.7% to $48.32 a barrel. Brent crude slid 3% to $50.31 a barrel. Energy stocks fell. Hess sank 1.7% to $45.89.

Solar power companies sank as investors wondered if President Trump will seek to remove the U.S. from the Paris climate change accords. First Solar declined 2.5% to $38.51. SunPower fell 3.4% to $7.87. Solar wafer maker Canadian Solar slid 5.4% to $12.81.

The dollar fell to 110.57 yen from 110.78 yen. The euro rose to $1.1246 from $1.1188.

Wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to $1.61 a gallon. Heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.52 a gallon. Natural gas fell 7 cents to $3.07 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold rose $9.70 to $1,265.40 an ounce. Silver fell 2 cents to $17.41 an ounce. Copper rose 2 cents to $2.58 a pound.