FINANCIAL MARKETS
NEW YORK—U.S. stocks slumped Friday as financial and health care companies moved lower. Industrial companies rose as stocks continued the up-and-down pattern they’ve been stuck in for the last month. Stocks slumped in morning trading as banks fell in tandem with bond yields and interest rates and energy companies sank with oil prices. Strong results from Honeywell and aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins helped industrial firms. Toy maker Mattel plunged after it reported is second disappointing quarter in a row. Stocks climbed in the final minutes of trading and left the Standard & Poor’s 500 index 1 percent higher for the week. President Donald Trump gave the market a fleeting boost in the afternoon when he said his administration will release a tax reform proposal next week that includes a large tax cut. He didn’t provide details. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 7.15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,348.69. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 30.95 points, or 0.2 percent, to 20,547.76. The Nasdaq composite fell 6.26 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,910.52. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 4.30 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,379.85. Financial companies fell. Professional services firm Marsh & McLennan skidded $1.41, or 1.9 percent, to $71.88 and wealth management company Morgan Stanley dipped 70 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $41.80. Bank of America fell 36 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $22.7. Bond prices rose early on but wound up little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 2.24 percent. Health care companies moved lower. Biotech drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals lost $1.90, or 1.6 percent, to $116.82 and Merck declined 66 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $61.89. Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts dipped 59 cents to $66.46. Next week the market may also react to the first round of voting in the French presidential election. Polls between the top four candidates are fairly close, and a good showing by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen or leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, as opposed to their more centrist rivals, could unsettle investors. The top two candidates will advance to a final round of voting in early May. Benchmark U.S. crude shed $1.09, or 2.1 percent, to $49.62 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell $1.03, or 1.9 percent, to $51.96 a barrel in London.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline lost 3 cents to $1.64 a gallon and heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.55 a gallon. Natural gas gave up 6 cents to $3.10 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold rose $5.30 to $1,289.10 an ounce. Silver lost 16 cents to $17.86 an ounce. Copper remained at $2.54 a pound.