Storm affects insurers, energy firms

NEW YORK » U.S. stocks finished little changed on Monday as investors focused on the effects of Tropical Storm Harvey. Insurance companies and oil drillers stumbled while refineries rose along with gasoline prices.

Biotech drug companies rose after hepatitis C and HIV drug maker Gilead Sciences agreed to buy cancer drugmaker Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion. Travel booking website Expedia tumbled as investors expected the company’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, to leave the company to become CEO of ride-sharing company Uber.

Investors mostly focused on Harvey, which continues to hit parts of the Gulf Coast with historically heavy rains. Large parts of the energy and petrochemical industries are based there and companies with a lot of stores in the area stand to lose business.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 1.19 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,444.24. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 5.27 points to 21,808.40. The Nasdaq composite rose 17.37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,283.02. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 4.78 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,382.23. Most of the stocks on the New York Stock Exchange fell.

Helmerich & Payne, an oil and gaswell drilling contractor, gave up $1.29, or 2.9 percent, to $43.49.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.30, or 2.7 percent, to $46.57 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 52 cents, or 1 percent, to $51.89 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline futures rose 5 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $1.71 a gallon, and refining companies climbed, as they stand to benefit from higher gas prices. Marathon Petroleum advanced 80 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $52.52.

Insurance companies declined as investors worried that flooding from Harvey will lead to big losses. Travelers slumped $3.24, or 2.6 percent, to $123.23 and Progressive shed $1.09, or 2.3 percent, to $47.31.

Shoe retailer DSW lost $1.01, or 5 percent, to $19.04. Sporting goods company Finish Line declined 25 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $10.42 and Boot Barn retreated 24 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $8.33. Citi Investment Research analyst Kate McShane noted that all three companies have large numbers of stores in Texas. Some companies that may play a role in cleanup efforts after the storm traded higher. Those included environmental services company Clean Harbors, which rose $1.59, or 3.1 percent, to $52.98.

Gilead Sciences agreed to buy Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion, or $180 a share. Kite is studying treatments that can reprogram a patient’s immune cells to attack tumors, and it hopes towin approval this year for a blood cancer treatment. Kite is one of several companies researching CAR-T therapies. Kite Pharma stock jumped $38.95, or 28 percent, to $178.05 and Gilead gained 90 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $74.69.

Gold rose $17.40, or 1.3 percent, to $1,315.30 an ounce, its highest price in 11 months. Silver gained 39 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $17.44 an ounce. Copper picked up 3 cents, or 1 percent, to $3.06 a pound.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1 cent to $1.64 a gallon. Natural gas added 3 cents to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The dollar inched down to 109.09 yen from 109.24 yen late Friday.

Bond prices edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.16 percent from 2.17 percent.