Stock indexes slip; falling oil prices bring energy down

A late gain for U.S. stocks slipped away Wednesday, ending a four-day winning streak. Energy firms sank along with the price of oil.

The price of crude oil fell more than 3% on Wednesday. Big-dividend payers and industrial companies slipped. Gains by Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet helped the technology sector finish higher. Banks and healthcare firms also rose.

The United States and China announced new tariffs on each other’s goods but investors have been focusing on rising company earnings instead. Karyn Cavanaugh, senior markets strategist at Voya Investment Management, said U.S. companies are expecting bigger profits despite the tariffs.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 0.75 of a point to 2,857.70. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.16 points, or 0.2%, to 25,583.75. The Nasdaq composite edged up 4.66 points, or 0.1%, to 7,888.33. The Russell 2000 index slipped 1.42 points, or 0.1%, to 1,686.88.

Oil futures fell sharply. U.S. crude oil sank 3.2% to $66.94 a barrel. Brent crude slid 3.2% to $72.28 a barrel.

Chevron shares fell 1% to $123.88.

Snap, which runs the Snapchat video app, dropped 6.8% to $12.23 after it said the number of daily Snapchat users fell during the second quarter.

Match Group, the parent of Match.com, OKCupid and other online dating companies, bucked that trend. Its stock soared 17.3% to $45.60 after Match reported big gains in subscribers, especially for Tinder. Its adjusted profit and revenue beat Wall Street projections.

Drugstore and pharmacy benefits manager CVS climbed 4.2% to $68.17 after raising its annual profit forecast. CVS said prescription sales grew, although it took a loss after it wrote down the value of its Omnicare pharmacy services business by almost $4 billion.

In April, construction equipment company Caterpillar said it doubted it would top its first-quarter profit for the rest of this year. Investors worried that might hold true for the rest of corporate America, but so far it hasn’t.

A month ago, analysts expected the companies of the S&P 500 to earn $160.32 per share in 2018. That has risen by almost a dollar, to $161.29 a share. Their estimates for 2019 have risen a bit more than a dollar, to $177.52 a share from $176.38.

Twinkie maker Hostess Brands plunged 17.6% to $11.49 after it said its results were hurt by cuts in promotional support and inventory from a major retailer and by higher costs, including for transportation.

Pizza maker Papa John’s fell 5.2% to $38.94 after it said North American sales fell again and cut its forecasts for the year. Domino’s, a rival pizza delivery company, climbed 3.4% to $286.92.

Walt Disney fell 2.2% to $113.98 after the entertainment company’s profit and revenue fell short of analyst estimates.

Cars.com and Avis Budget Group sank after cutting their sales forecasts. Rental car firm Avis dived 15.2% to $32.85. Cars.com, an online auto marketplace, fell 2.6% to $27.29. Struggling rival Hertz fell 7.3% to $18.11, giving back some of the 24% gain it posted Tuesday after a better-than-expected quarterly report.

Bond prices turned higher. The yield on the 10year Treasury note fell to 2.96% from 2.97%.

Wholesale gasoline fell 4% to $2.02 a gallon. Heating oil fell 2.5% to $2.12 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1.8% to $2.95 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold rose 0.2% to $1,221 an ounce. Silver rose 0.4% to $15.43 an ounce. Copper remained at $2.75 a pound.

The dollar fell to 110.96 yen from 111.43 yen. The euro rose to $1.1619 from $1.1594.