Stocks close lower, breaking record-setting win streak
Stocks fell Thursday after a mixed set of earnings reports put at least a temporary halt to the market’s record-setting run. Airlines had some of the sharpest drops on worries that falling fares will hurt their profits.
The Dow Jones industrial average sank, breaking a nine-day winning streak, its longest in three years. It fell 77.80 points, or 0.4%, to 18,517.23.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7.85 points, or 0.4%, to 2,165.17. The Dow and S&P 500 had been setting a series of all-time highs this week. The Nasdaq composite sank 16.03 points, or 0.3%, to 5,073.90.
“It’s surprising how strong the market has been,” said Rich Weiss, senior portfolio manager at American Century Investments. “The only logical explanation is that it’s a horse race and that, relative to the other horses, the U.S. equity market is looking more attractive” than foreign stocks, bonds and other investments.
Stock markets overseas were mixed after the European Central Bank left interest rates at record lows but also said that it could add stimulus as it assesses the impact of Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.55% from 1.58%.
Southwest Airlines was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500, falling 11.2% to $37.32. The company reported weaker earnings growth than analysts expected and said a key revenue trend will turn down in the current quarter.
That helped drag down stocks across the airline industry. Delta Air Lines, United Continental Holdings and American Airlines Group all lost 2.7% or more.
Intel sank 4% to $34.27 after reporting slower revenue growth for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Electric carmaker Tesla slid 3.4% to $220.50 after investors weren’t impressed with Chief Executive Elon Musk’s “master plan” for the company.
Energy stocks fell with the price of oil. U.S. crude sank $1 to settle at $44.75 a barrel. Brent crude fell 97 cents to $46.20 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline fell 1 cent to $1.36 a gallon, heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.37 a gallon, and natural gas rose 3 cents to $2.69 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The best-performing stock in the S&P 500 was EBay, which jumped 10.9% to $29.93 after reporting stronger-than-expected results for the latest quarter.
Relypsa soared 59% to $31.95 after the potassium disorder drugmaker, based in Redwood City, Calif., agreed to be bought by Galenica Group of Switzerland for $32 a share, or about $1.43 billion.
Utility stocks largely held up, rising 0.6%. They and other dividend-paying stocks have been at the forefront of the stock market’s rise this year, as investors searched for steadier returns and anything that produces income, given how low bond yields are.
Utilities are up 20.2% for the year, far outpacing the 5.9% gain for the S&P 500. Some analysts see that as a worrying sign and want to see improvement in areas of the market that are more closely tied to the health of the economy, such as financials or companies that sell non-essential goods and services to consumers, before becoming more optimistic.
Gold rose $11.70 to $1,331 an ounce, silver rose 20 cents to $19.82 an ounce and copper rose less than 1 cent to $2.26 a pound.
France’s CAC 40 index fell 0.1%, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4% and Germany’s DAX index rose 0.1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.8%, and South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2%.
The dollar fell to 105.86 yen from 106.87 yen, and the euro rose to $1.1013 from $1.1005.
UPDATES:
2:25 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information.
1:15 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices.
11:15 a.m.: This article was updated with more recent prices and additional information.
This article was originally published at 7 a.m.
