Retailers, banks hold down stocks

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks hardly moved Tuesday as investors were slow to dip a toe back into the market, although energy companies did climb with the price of oil and natural gas. Banks and retailers took losses.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.32 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,360.16. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 39.03 points, or 0.2 percent, to 20,689.24. The Nasdaq composite rose 3.93 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,898.61.

Slightly more stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Russell 2000 index, which contains smaller-company stocks, lost 1.49 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,368.18.

Stock indexes flickered between tiny gains and losses throughout the day before they mounted a small rally over the last half hour of trading. Energy companies rose the most, and companies that make drinks, packaged foods, and other household items also rose. Retailers and department stores slumped after Urban Outfitters Inc. warned of weak first-quarter sales and Ralph Lauren said it will close stores and cut jobs.

That came a day after carmakers reported weak sales for March, which raised concerns about sales of other goods.

Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank’s Private Client Reserve, said consumers are very confident in the economy according to surveys, but considering high levels of employment and hiring, they’re not spending that much.

“We would like to see that confidence reflected in their actual consumption, and that’s been somewhat mixed,” he said.

Shares of Ralph Lauren Corp. dropped $3.63, or 4.5 percent, to $77.74 after it said it will close stores and cut jobs to save money. The company will close its Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan less than three years after it opened. Urban Outfitters fell 7 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $22.49 after it said sales at older stores have fallen over the past two months.

Other retailers also lost ground. Department store Nordstrom Inc. fell $2.56, or 5.5 percent, to $43.92 and L Brands Inc., the owner of Victoria’s Secret, shed $2.03, or 4.4 percent, to $43.77. But their online competitor Amazon.com Inc. gained $15.32, or 1.7 percent, to $906.83. Amazon stock is up 21 percent this year.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 79 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $51.03 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $1.05, or 2 percent, to $54.17 a barrel in London. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. added 92 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $62.71.

The price of natural gas jumped 4.6 percent to $3.27 per 1,000 cubic feet, and shares of Southwestern Energy Co. climbed 70 cents, or 8.9 percent, to $8.59 while Range Resources Corp. gained $1.19, or 4.2 percent, to $29.76. Wholesale gasoline rose 3 cents to $1.72 a gallon and heating oil added 3 cents to $1.59 a gallon.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.36 percent from 2.33 percent.

Banks took losses for the second day in a row after a sharp drop Monday in bond yields. Lower bond yields force interest rates on loans lower, which cuts into banks’ profits. Capital One Financial Corp. slid 54 cents to $85.26 and Discover Financial Services lost 90 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $67.05.