Dow Falls as Investors Await Another Round of Earnings Reports
July 24 2017 - 3:09PM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Bird and Gunjan Banerji
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Monday, putting the
blue-chip index on track for its third consecutive session of
declines.
Some investors said they were awaiting a string of earnings
results this week and a policy statement from the Federal Reserve
due Wednesday. Economists don't expect a change in U.S. interest
rates, but the central bank could announce the beginning of its
balance-sheet reduction.
The Dow industrials fell 43 points, or 0.2%, to 21537. The
S&P 500 shed less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite gained
0.2%.
Shares of toymakers were among the biggest decliners in the
S&P 500 and its consumer-discretionary sector after Hasbro's
quarterly results disappointed investors. The owner of Monopoly,
whose stock is up 35% so far this year, posted sales growth that
fell short of what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were
expecting. Shares of Hasbro fell 9.5% Monday and Mattel declined
3.2%.
A number of technology heavyweights are scheduled to report
earnings this week, including Google-parent Alphabet, Facebook and
Amazon.com.
"Some of the nervous traders are dipping and ducking" in
anticipation of earnings, said Chris Bertelsen, chief investment
officer of Aviance Capital Management. "As goes earnings at the
moment, so goes the market."
Also Monday, shares of utilities companies fell alongside U.S.
government bond prices. The rate-sensitive sector slid 0.8% and was
the S&P 500's worst performer, while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury note rose to 2.255%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.232%
Friday. Yields rise as prices fall.
The dollar was mostly steady after the WSJ Dollar Index, which
measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, fell to its lowest
close since Sept. 30 on Friday. Concern about policy direction from
the White House and Capitol Hill since the failure to repeal the
Affordable Care Act and investigations into contacts with Russians
before November's election have helped fuel dollar selling.
Oil prices rose as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries continued to grapple with the growing challenges to
removing what it sees as a global oversupply of oil from the
market.
Saudi Arabian oil minister Khalid al-Falih said the country
would limit its oil exports and added that he wanted other
countries to follow suit. Despite a deal struck last year to take
out almost 1.8 million barrels of crude oil from the global market,
prices remain stubbornly low.
U.S. crude rose 1.2% to $46.32 a barrel Monday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.2%, weighed down by a 1% drop
in Britain's FTSE 100 and a 0.3% drop in Germany's DAX.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.6% lower, with
export-reliant companies posting some of the biggest declines as
the yen strengthened. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.5% after
its nine-session winning streak ended Friday.
--Akane Otani contributed to this article.
Write to Mike Bird at Mike.Bird@wsj.com and Gunjan Banerji at
Gunjan.Banerji@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 24, 2017 14:54 ET (18:54 GMT)
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