Stocks end little changed as oil price recovers
The major U.S. stock indexes barely budged Tuesday on another day of mostly light trading ahead of the Easter holiday weekend.
Technology stocks declined the most, while real estate companies notched the biggest gains. Oil prices recovered after an early slide. Bond yields fell and the price of gold rose as investors kept an eye on rising geopolitical tensions.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 3.38 points, or 0.1%, to 2,353.78. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 6.72 points, or 0.03%, to 20,651.30. The Nasdaq composite index slid 14.15 points, or 0.2%, to 5,866.77.
Small-company stocks bucked the downward trend. The Russell 2000 index rose 9.86 points, or 0.7%, to 1,376.95. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange.
Major indexes started off in the red early Tuesday and held their course the rest of the day as traders monitored the latest headlines on North Korea and Russia-U.S. relations.
Wall Street’s “fear index,” known as the VIX, surged 7.3% to its highest level since November. Government bonds also reflected growing unease among investors. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year note fell to 2.30% from 2.36% late Monday. As bond prices rise, yields drop.
And gold, often sought out by investors in times of global uncertainty, rose $20.30, or 1.6%, to $1,274.20 an ounce.
A dash of favorable economic news failed to lift the market. The Labor Department reported that job openings rose 2.1% in February to a seasonally adjusted 5.7 million. Job openings have increased 3.2% over the past 12 months.
Weak forecasts from some companies weighed on the market. MTS Systems slumped 13.2% after the maker of mechanical testing systems issued disappointing earnings and sales forecasts for the year. The stock shed $7.10 to $46.70.
The fallout from a video showing a United Continental passenger dragged off an overbooked flight in Chicago on Sunday continued to pull down the airline’s shares. The stock slid 81 cents, or 1.1%, to $70.71.
Investors cheered the latest batch of corporate deal news. RetailMeNot vaulted 48.4% after the online coupon company agreed to be acquired by payment and marketing company Harland Clark Holdings for $11.60 a share, or $555 million. RetailMeNot picked up $3.75 to $11.50.
Major stock indexes overseas were mixed. In Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 0.5%, while France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.1%. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2%. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index slipped 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 0.7%.
Rebounding from an early slide, benchmark crude oil rose 32 cents to close at $53.40 a barrel in New York, its sixth gain in a row. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, added 25 cents to close at $56.23 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 109.69 yen from 110.94 yen late Monday. The euro rose to $1.0608 from $1.0596.
UPDATES:
2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with results from the market close.
12:50 p.m.: This article was updated with late afternoon trading results.
The article was originally published at 7 a.m.
