Bank stocks offset slump in tech

NEW YORK — Technology and energy companies skidded Friday while banks and insurers recovered some of their recent losses, leaving major U.S. indexes little changed on the day and moderately lower for the week.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 3.67 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,461.43. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 13.01 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,797.79. The Nasdaq composite dropped 37.68 points, or 0.6 percent, to 6,360.19. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 0.76 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,399.43. More stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of credit monitoring company Equifax plunged after it disclosed a data breach that affects 143 million Americans. Competitors TransUnion and Experian also fell, while data security companies such as Symantec jumped as investors expected they will get more business.

Grocery stores and food companies slumped as Kroger said stiff competition forced it to cut prices. Target also said it is lowering prices. Technology companies including Apple, Facebook, Intel and chipmakers weakened.

Hurricane Irma continued to devastate islands in the Caribbean. The enormous storm killed at least 22 people, a total that is expected to rise as rescuers continue to search. It also left thousands of people homeless, and more than a million people in Florida and Georgia have been ordered to evacuate. Irma is expected to hit Florida over the weekend with winds surpassing 130 miles per hour.

Experts think the storms will slow down U.S. economic growth in the third quarter. While that’s likely to be temporary, David Chalupnik, head of equities at Nuveen Asset Management, said the effect on the stock market could linger because it will be hard for investors to tell how much of any individual company’s problems are caused by the weather.

Equifax, which hit all-time highs last month, took its biggest one-day loss since 1999 after it said a cyber intrusion exposed Social Security numbers and other information from 143 million Americans between mid-May and late July. Equifax tumbled $19.49, or 13.7 percent, to $123.23. TransUnion fell $1.89, or 3.8 percent, to $47.50, and Experian fell 0.7 percent in London.

Security software company Symantec jumped $1.03, or 3.4 percent, to $31.63. Competitor FireEye rose 24 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $16.01.

Kroger shares dropped $1.71, or 7.5 percent, to $21.06. Supervalu fell $1.43, or 6.8 percent, to $19.66. Target shed $1.15, or 2 percent, to $57.27, and Wal-Mart gave up $1.25, or 1.5 percent, to $78.88.

Energy companies fell as benchmark U.S. crude skidded $1.61, or 3.3 percent, to $47.48 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 71 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $53.78 a barrel in London.

Bond prices dipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.06 percent from 2.05 percent.

Banks traded a bit higher. They had taken sharp losses on Thursday as bond yields and interest rates dropped.