Stocks slip amid wait for Fed cuts, earnings news
Major U. S. stock indexes closed mostly lower Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of a key Federal Reserve interest policy announcement and other potentially market- moving developments on tap for this week.
Banks, retailers and communications companies took the brunt of the selling. Those losses were partially offset by gains in health care and household goods makers. Utilities and real estate stocks also rose, as traders shifted funds into less risky assets.
The modest slide cut into some of the market’s gains from Friday, when the benchmark S& P 500 hit an all- time high.
Traders are expecting that the Federal Reserve will announce Wednesday that it is cutting interest rates for the first time in a decade to help ensure U. S. economic growth in the face of trade uncertainty.
Investors will also be wading through the heaviest slate of the current corporate earnings reporting season this week. And they’ll be keeping an eye on trade negotiations between the U. S. and China, which resume Tuesday, and on a key government
jobs report due out Friday.
“This is a marking time sort of day with earnings coming up, with the Fed coming up, with the economic data coming up later this week,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. “If anything, you have a modest reaction to the all- time highs that we saw on Friday and a chance to take profits, but not much conviction either way.”
The S& P 500 index slipped 4.89 points, or 0.2%, to 3,020.97. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.90 points, or 0.1%, to 27,221.35.
The Nasdaq composite fell 36.88 points, or 0.4%, to 8,293.33. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies slid 9.94, or 0.6%, to 1,569.02.
Slightly more stocks rose than declined on the New York Stock Exchange. Major stock indexes in Europe closed mostly lower.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10- year Treasury note fell to 2.06% from 2.08% late Friday.
Despite Monday’s selling, the market’s record run at the end of last week kept the broader market on track for another month of gains. The S& P 500 is up 2.7% in July; the Nasdaq is up 3.6%.