Stocks Post First Loss of the Week as Tech Companies Drop

NEW YORK (AP) – Losses among technology and consumer products companies weighed on U.S. stocks Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak for the market.

Banks bucked the trend, rising along with bond yields. Energy companies also eked out a slight gain, despite a late-afternoon downturn in oil prices. The broad market slide came as investors pored over the latest corporate quarterly results.

The S&P 500 index fell 15.51 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,693.13. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 83.18 points, or 0.3 percent, to 24,664.89. The drop knocked the blue chip average slightly into the red for the year.

The Nasdaq composite lost 57.18 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,238.06. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 9.74 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,573.82.

Philip Morris disclosed weak quarterly sales and said sales of its iQos device in Japan were slower than expected. The stock was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, sinking 15.6 percent to $85.64. That’s the tobacco company’s worst single-day loss of all time.

Procter & Gamble declined 3.3 percent to $74.95 despite posting results that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

Technology stocks, still the biggest gainers this year, weighed on the market. Companies in the computer chip business were big decliners for the second day in a row. Lam Research, which makes chip-making equipment, led the slide, dropping 6.6 percent to $190.39.

Qualcomm slid 4.8 percent to $52.57 after the Chinese government said it still has concerns about the company’s deal to buy NXP Semiconductors. Qualcomm withdrew one proposal for the deal Monday and submitted another.

American Express jumped 7.6 percent to $102.37 after the credit card issuer reported a big quarterly profit thanks to strong customer spending and a lower tax rate.

Rising bond yields helped push bank shares higher. When bond yields rise, they drive up interest rates on mortgages and other loans, which can translate into bigger profits for banks. Bank of New York Mellon gained 5.7 percent to $54.24.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.92 percent from 2.88 percent late Wednesday. That’s the highest level since February.

Benchmark U.S. crude gave up early gains, slipping 18 cents to settle at $68.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 30 cents to close at $73.78 per barrel in London.

Gold fell $4.70 to $1,348.80 an ounce. Silver slipped a penny to $17.24 an ounce. Copper dropped 3 cents to $3.13 a pound.

Aluminum rose about 4 cents to $1.4055 a pound, according to S&P Global Platts. The price, which includes the London Metal Exchange cash settlement and the U.S. transaction premium, spiked earlier this month after the U.S. slapped a major Russian exporter of the metal with sanctions, effectively blocking its supply from reaching the market.

The dollar rose to 107.41 yen from 107.26 yen on Wednesday. The euro fell to $1.2337 from $1.2377.

In other energy futures trading, heating oil rose 2 cents to $2.11 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline picked up 1 cent to $2.08 a gallon. Natural gas fell 8 cents to $2.66 per 1,000 cubic feet.