Tech, retail companies take stocks lower

NEW YORK » U.S. stocks fell Thursday as technology firms and small companies skidded. Investors bought high-dividend stocks, which pulled the market away from steeper losses.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 5.46 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,432.46. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 14.66 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,359.90 after it closed at a record high Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite dropped 29.39 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,165.50. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks fell 7.49 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,410.08.

Technology companies continued to slide. Apple gave up 87 cents to $144.29 and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, sank $7.75 to $960.18. Symantec shed 68 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $28.41. The stocks have been slipping since Friday and the Nasdaq is on track for its second consecutive weekly loss.

Amazon dipped $12.30, or 1.3 percent, to $964.17.

Grocery chain Kroger took its biggest one-day loss since 1999. The company cut its annual profit outlook as it deals with growing competition from discount chain Aldi and from Lidl, a German chain opening its first locations in the U.S. Kroger’s stock plunged $5.72, or 18.9 percent, to $24.56. Competitor Supervalu fell 30 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $3.76.

Mattel said wants to restructure its business to help bring new products to market faster. It will also reduce its dividend payments, although it didn’t say how much. The stock fell $1.48, or 6.7 percent, to $20.67.

As the dollar regained strength, the price of gold sank $21.30, or 1.7 percent, to $1,254.60 an ounce and silver lost 42 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $16.72 an ounce. Copper lost 1 cent to $2.57 a pound.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.9 percent while the FTSE 100 in Britain dropped 0.7 percent. The CAC-40 in France sank 0.5 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index fell 0.3 percent and South Korea’s Kospi sank 0.5 percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 1.2 percent.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.16 percent from 2.13 percent. Stocks that pay large dividends, including utilities, real estate investment trusts and phone companies, did better than the rest of the market.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell another 27 cents to $44.46 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 8 cents to $46.92 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline remained at $1.44 a gallon. Heating oil stayed at $1.42 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 12 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $3.06 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The dollar rose to 110.86 yen from 109.53 yen. The euro dropped to $1.1155 from $1.1220.