Image: Wall Street slips as energy shares, oil prices drop
By Lewis Krauskopf
(Reuters) – U.S. stocks slipped on Monday, led by the energy sector as oil prices dropped, while investors awaited the next run of major earnings reports and sought further clarity on President Donald Trump’s economic policies.
The benchmark 500 receded after climbing close to a record high on Friday.
U.S. equities have rallied since Trump’s November election, spurred by hopes for fiscal stimulus, lower taxes and fewer regulations under the Republican-led federal government.
“The market is starting to come down from its euphoric high and realize that maybe not everything is going to be solved in the first 100 days,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa. “There’s a lot of uncertainty.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 19.04 points, or 0.09 percent, to 20,052.42, the lost 4.86 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,292.56 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.21 points, or 0.06 percent, to 5,663.55.
Goldman Sachs economists said a fiscal boost to the United States is more likely in 2018 than this year because “the balance of risks is somewhat less positive” one month into 2017 and Trump’s growth-boosting agenda could be offset by negative effects of trade and immigration restrictions.
“There are concerns regarding the backlash against any protectionist policies that come out of Washington and other countries and investors are seeking clarity,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive officer at 50 Park Investments.
Nine of 11 major sectors ended lower. Energy shares fell 0.9 percent as oil prices declined.
In earnings news, Hasbro shares jumped 14.1 percent after the No. 2 U.S. toymaker reported record holiday-quarter revenue.
Tyson Foods fell 3.5 percent. The company disclosed it had received a subpoena from U.S. authorities that it said likely stemmed from allegations the company conspired to fix chicken prices.
Several major companies will report results later in the week, including Gilead Sciences, Walt Disney and Coca-Cola.
More than half of S&P 500 companies have reported fourth-quarter results, and about two-thirds of them beat Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
About 6 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, below the 6.7 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.63-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.73-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 108 new highs and 24 new lows.
(Additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Nick Zieminski)
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