FINANCIAL MARKETS

A mostly listless day of trading left U.S. stock indexes little changed Monday, hovering just below the record highs they set late last week.

Drug company and consumer-focused stocks weighed on the market, while energy companies surged, getting a lift from a pickup in crude oil prices.

The slight pullback came as investors took advantage of the milestones reached Friday by the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite to pocket some gains. Strong U.S. jobs data left traders feeling more confident in the economy heading into this week.

“It’s a little bit of profit-taking,” said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. “We’re coming off a good employment number and we know the consumer’s been strong.”

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 14.24 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,529.29. The S&P 500 index dipped 1.98 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,180.89. The Nasdaq shed 7.98 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,213.14.

The stock market hit record highs on Friday after the Labor Department said U.S. employers added 255,000 jobs in July — far more than investors expected. The hiring spree, which followed an even bigger surge in June, gave investors more confidence that the economy is still growing.

The major stock indexes appeared headed for another day of gains early on, as markets in Asia and Europe shrugged off new data showing China’s exports and imports declined again last month. A report indicating industrial production in Germany grew at a better-than-expected rate in June helped lift markets overseas.

U.S. markets initially wavered between small gains and losses, but ultimately remained slightly down the rest of the day.

Two drugmakers weighed on the market early on.

Shares in Bristol-Myers Squibb were hammered after plunging on Friday following news that the drugmaker’s cancer treatment Opdivo failed in a study aimed at extending its usage for lung cancer patients. The stock lost $2.98, or 4.7 percent, to $60.30.