S&P 500 follows energy lower
THE S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Monday following a drop in oil prices that weighed on energy shares and offset a jump in financials as Bank of America’s results reinforced expectations of a strong US earnings season.
NEW YORK — The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Monday following a drop in oil prices that weighed on energy shares and offset a jump in financials as Bank of America’s results reinforced expectations of a strong US earnings season.
Netflix shares ended the session up 1.2% but dropped more than 14% after the bell when it reported results. The company missed Wall Street forecasts for US and international subscribers.
Nasdaq e-mini futures volume jumped after Netflix’s results and sold off sharply to end the session down one percent.
Facebook, Amazon. com and Google parent Alphabet were down more than one percent in after- hours trading. The stocks have led the technology and consumer discretionary sectors back to record- high levels in recent days.
During the regular session, the S&P energy sector fell 1.2%, leading percentage declines among the 11 major S&P sectors. Shares of Exxon Mobil slid 1% and Chevron fell 0.90%. The stocks were among the biggest drags on the benchmark index, along with Microsoft, down 0.50%.
Oil prices slumped more than four percent as Libyan ports reopened and traders eyed potential supply increases by Russia and other producers.
Bank stocks rose, reversing their slide on Friday, when JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Well Fargo reported results. The S&P 500 financial index gained 1.8%, leading sector gains.
Bank of America rose 4.3% after the lender’s quarterly profit beat analysts’ expectations on lower expenses and growth in loans and deposits. Goldman Sachs shares were up 2.2% ahead of its results, due Tuesday.
That wasn’t enough to extend recent gains in the S& P 500, which on Friday had its highest close in more than five months.
Investors may be reluctant to make big trades ahead of the pickup in earnings reports this week and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s first congressional testimony Tuesday and Wednesday, said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. “We’re taking a bit of a break after a good run last week,” he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.95 points or 0.18% to 25,064.36; the S& P 500 lost 2.88 points or 0.10% to 2,798.43; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 20.26 points or 0.26% to 7,805.72.
Sixty S& P 500 companies were due to report this week. Analysts have forecast secondquarter earnings increased 21.1% from a year ago according to Thomson Reuters data. Of the companies that have reported earnings through last week, 86.7% have topped earnings expectations, above the 75% average of the past four quarters.
The S&P 500 retail index was up 0.30%. US retail sales increased a strong 0.50% in June, Commerce department data showed, indicating consumer spending accelerated in the second quarter.
Among stocks, shares of Arconic jumped 10.5% on a report that the maker of aluminum parts used in planes, cars and buildings is the subject of takeover interest from private-equity firms. Amazon.com, Inc. edged up 0.50% as its “Prime Day” shopping event kicked off.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2.05 to one; on Nasdaq, a 1.55-toone ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 65 new lows. Trading volume was light, with 5.4 billion shares changing hands on US exchanges compared with the 6.6 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data. —