Stocks end mixed; energy, tech and smaller firms rise

U.S. stocks shrugged off early losses and wound up with a mixed finish Monday. Household goods companies took some of the worst losses as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell for the third time in four days.

The S&P 500 dropped as much as 22 points early in the day. Consumer products and packaged foods companies stumbled, and drugmakers and distributors fell, as did health insurers. That came after indexes in Europe and Asia fell. German stocks took steep losses as investors wondered if a dispute over migrants could eventually threaten the German government.

But U.S. stocks gradually recovered most of their losses as energy companies rose along with oil prices and technology companies managed to make some gains. Smaller and more U.S.-focused companies climbed. That continued a pattern that has persisted for more than three months.

It’s been a turbulent few months for stocks, but the benchmark S&P 500 is a bit higher than it was when international trade tensions started to weigh on the market in late February. Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said it’s a good sign that some sectors that have struggled are now doing better.

“It’s indicative of a market that’s unconvinced that a trade war will develop,” he said. Still, he said the next month of trading could be choppy as investors analyze the latest trade developments and wait for companies to start reporting their second-quarter results in mid-July.

The S&P 500 fell 5.91 points, or 0.2%, to 2,773.75. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 103.01 points, or 0.4%, to 24,987.47. The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.65 of a point to 7,747.03.

The Russell 2000 index rose 8.55 points, or 0.5%, to a record 1,692.46. Many investors feel the smaller and more U.S.-focused companies in that index are less vulnerable in the event that a major trade dispute slows growth in the global economy.

Biogen sank 5.2% to $289.12 — the biggest fall of any S&P 500 company.

The German DAX sank 1.4%. The CAC 40 in France slid 0.9%. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down less than 0.1%. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.8%, and South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.2%. Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, rose 2.1% to $1,183.58 after it agreed to invest $550 million in Chinese e-commerce company JD.com. JD.com edged up 0.4% to $43.76.

Benchmark U.S. crude climbed 1.2% to $65.85 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, climbed 2.6% to $75.34 a barrel in London.

Chevron shares rose 1.6% to $125.97. Conoco Phillips rose 1.9% to $66.60.

Wholesale gasoline rose 1.6% to $2.05 a gallon. Heating oil jumped 2.1% to $2.13 a gallon. Natural gas sank 2.3% to $2.95 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10year Treasury note stayed at 2.92%.

Gold rose 0.1% to $1,280.10 an ounce. Silver slipped 0.2% to $16.44 an ounce. Copper fell 1.2% to $3.11 a pound.