Stocks end day with small gains
A listless day on Wall Street finished with U.S. stocks eking out small gains Friday, as strength in energy, phone and industrial companies offset losses elsewhere.
Real estate and utility companies were among the biggest decliners. Some health insurers bounced back after Sen. John McCain said he wouldn’t support the latest Republican effort to roll back the Affordable Care Act. A new round of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea helped send bond yields lower, which weighed on banks and other financial stocks.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.62 points to 2,502.22. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 9.64 points to 22,349.59. It was held back by a loss in Apple, which slid $1.50 to $151.89.
The Nasdaq composite added 4.23 points to 6,426.92.
Small-company stocks did better than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index gained 6.60 points to 1,450.78, a fraction of a point above its previous record high.
The stock indexes spent much of the day drifting between small gains and losses as investors weighed the latest developments in the political brinkmanship between the U.S. and North Korea. The heightened tensions drove up bond prices, which sent yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.25% from 2.28% late Thursday.
That weighed on bank shares, including Fifth Third Bancorp, which declined 23 cents to $27.31. Lower bond yields mean banks have to charge lower interest rates on long-term loans such as mortgages.
Several healthcare companies recovered some of the ground they lost earlier as McCain said he wouldn’t support the latest Republican healthcare bill, dealing what could be a fatal blow to the GOP measure in a Senate showdown expected next week. Centene, which administers Medicaid programs and sells health plans to ACA exchanges, rose $1.48 to $92.22. Molina Healthcare gained $2.81 to $65.32.
Energy stocks rose as crude oil prices finished higher. Hess added 87 cents, or 2%, to $44.50.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11 cents to $50.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude rose 43 cents to $56.86 a barrel in London.
Real estate investment trusts and utilities were among the biggest decliners. Ventas fell $1.48, or 2.2%, to $66.04. Duke Energy slid 91 cents, or 1.1%, to $84.25.
Sprint climbed 6.1% after Reuters reported the company is close to signing a deal with T-Mobile. Shares in Sprint added 49 cents to $8.52. T-Mobile gained 67 cents, or 1.1%, to $64.06. Verizon also got a boost, rising 96 cents, or 2%, to $49.90.
Heating oil was little changed at $1.82 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline gained 3 cents to $1.67 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1 cent to $2.96 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold rose $2.70 to $1,297.50 an ounce. Silver lost 3 cents to $16.98 an ounce. Copper added 1 cent to $2.95 a pound.