FINANCIAL MARKETS
NEW YORK—U.S. stocks slipped Tuesday as smaller companies and banks took their worst losses in a few months. With stock indexes near record highs, investors moved some money into big-dividend stocks like real estate companies.
Banks and other financial companies have been climbing over the last two months, but Tuesday they skidded as interest rates moved lower. Small, domestically-focused companies had their worst day since mid-August as House Republicans began making changes to their tax bill. Their Senate counterparts are expected to introduce their own bill soon. Smaller companies tend to pay higher tax rates than their bigger peers because they make more of their money in the U.S. and don’t have as many ways to reduce their taxes. While the pace of company earnings is slowing, they continued to hold sway over parts of the market. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 0.49 points to 2,590.64. The Dow Jones industrial average added 8.81 points to 23,557.23, another record high. The Nasdaq composite fell 18.65 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,767.78. The Russell 2000 index tumbled 18.87 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,479.09.
Banks fell along with bond yields and interest rates. Both have moved lower over the last few days, which reduces the profits banks make from lending. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.31 percent from 2.32 percent. Real estate, household goods and phone companies have lagged far behind the S&P 500 this year. The stocks are generally seen as cautious investments, and investors look for them when they are worried about market volatility. But investors have been betting on improved economic growth rather than looking for safety.
Travel website TripAdvisor plunged after its third-quarter revenue fell short of analyst estimates. Booking service Priceline Group had a betterquarter, but its forecasts for the current quarter disappointed Wall Street. Analysts said the company is spending a lot of money on advertising, but that may pay off with increased market share. TripAdvisor sank $9.18, or 23.2 percent, to a five-year low of $30.35 while Priceline lost $257.28, or 13.5 percent, to $1,645.72. Expedia shed $3.37, or 2.7 percent, to $119.61.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 15 cents to $57.20 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dipped 58 cents to $63.69 a barrel in London. Oil prices rose about 3 percent Monday and hit two-year highs after a wave of arrests of princes and other officials in Saudi Arabia. Investors wondered if the upheaval could affect oil supplies and prices.
Wholesale gasoline lost 1 cent to $1.82 a gallon. Heating oil fell 2 cents to $1.92 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2 cents to $3.15 per 1,000 cubic feet.