FINANCIAL MARKETS
NEW YORK—Stocks retreated on Wednesday and gave back some of their gains from a day earlier, when the Standard & Poor’s 500 index had one of its best days of the year.
Advertising companies and retailers had some of the steepest drops on worries about their earnings, while prices for Treasury bonds and gold rose modestly as investors sought safer ground. It’s the latest move lower for a stock market that’s yo-yoed since setting a record high earlier this month.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 8.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,444.04, relinquishing about a third of its big gain from Tuesday. The loss snapped a two-day winning streak that followed a nearly two-weeklong slump. After all its back and forth, the S&P 500 is still within 1.5 percent of its record.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 87.80 points, or 0.4 percent, to 21,812.09, and the Nasdaq composite lost 19.07, or 0.3 percent, to 6,278.41. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks fell 1.80, or 0.1 percent, to 1,369.74.
Advertising companies had the biggest losses in the S&P 500 after an industry giant cut its forecast for revenue this year. WPP warned that its clients are feeling pressure to control their spending, and its shares plunged 10.9 percent in London. In the U.S., Omnicom Group fell $5.47, or 7 percent to $72.66, and Interpublic Group lost $1.32, or 6.3 percent, to $19.58.
Worries about politics were a big reason for the market’s stumbles in recent weeks. In Washington, the concern is about whether the government can push through tax cuts and other pro-business policies that were considered slam dunks early this year. Now, the market seems to have little to no expectation for much help coming from Washington, said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management.
The government is coming close to some crucial deadlines, including one to increase its borrowing authority in order to avoid a default on its debt and another to prevent a government shutdown.
In a speech late Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that “if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall” that he wants on the border between Mexico and the United States. He also said that he thinks the U.S. government will “end up probably terminating” the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, though he also said that he has yet to make up his mind.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 58 cents to settle at $48.41 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 70 cents to $52.57 per barrel.
Natural gas fell 1 cent to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil rose 3 cents to $1.62 per gallon and wholesale gasoline gained 3 cents to $1.62 per gallon.