Stocks fall as technology companies take a hit for second day in a row

NEW YORK — U.S. stock indexes slipped again Monday as technology companies, which were near record highs last week, suffered a second day of sharp losses. Investors are changing course and selling some of the best-performing stocks of the year while buying companies that have struggled.

Technology companies have surged in recent months, and on Monday almost all of the losses came from the big companies that have led the way recently: Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Stocks fell hard in early trading, but gradually recovered part of their losses as the day wenton.

Julian Emanuel, an equity strategist for UBS, thinks technology stocks may fall a lot further and wind up 10 percent lower than they were last week. He said the technology companies should continue to do well, but the stocks have done so much better than the rest of the market in recent months that they are due for a downturn.

Investors took a new look at some groups of companies that haven’t done that well in 2017, including energy, telecommunications and real estate companies.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 2.38 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,429.39. The Dow Jones industrial average, which closed at a record high Friday, lost 36.30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,235.67. The Nasdaq

composite dropped 32.45 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,175.46. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks slid 2.50 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,419.21.

Apple shed $3.66, or 2.5 percent, to $145.32 while Alphabet lost $8.31 to $961.81. Facebook fell $1.16 to $148.44 while Microsoft sank 54 cents to $69.78. Other 2017 top performers like Activision Blizzard, Netflix and Skyworks Solutions also tumbled.

Technology stocks have done far better than the rest of the market this year and were close to all-time highs before Friday’s drop. The technology component of the S&P 500 index shed 2.7 percent Friday, whicherased a month’s worth ofgains.

General Electric, meanwhile, made its biggest gain in almost two years after it said CEO Jeffrey Immelt will step down after 16 years at the helm. John Flannery, the head of GE’s health care division, will take over the post in August. Immelt will remain GE’s chairman until the end of this year. In recent years GE has sold or split off numerous businesses, including its financial services division, and focused on new technologies as it returned to its roots asan industrial company.

GE stock gained $1, or 3.6 percent, to $28.94, for its largest one-day jump since October 2015.

Benchmark U.S. crude added 25 cents to $46.08 a barrel in New York. Among energy companies, Exxon Mobil rose 80 cents, or 1 percent, to $82.93 and Chevron picked up $1.64, or 1.5 percent, to $108.04.

Energy companies are down 12 percent this year and phone companies have fallen almost 9 percent, but both climbed Monday as investors bought stocks that have struggled this year. Verizon added 47 cents, or 1 percent, to $47.19. Real estate companies have lagged the market this year, andthey rose as well.

Stocks that took a rare downturn included Amazon, which dropped $13.48, or 1.4 percent, to $964.83, and drug and medical device maker Baxter International, which lost $1.76, or 3 percent, to $57.15.

The Federal Reserve will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, and investors expect the central bank to raise interest rates for the third time since December.