Stock Indexes End Mixed, But Tech Companies Slide Further

U.S. stock indexes found their footing after a sharp early loss Monday and finished mixed. Technology companies sank for the third day in a row.

Stocks slumped in morning trading following big declines late last week. Some of the largest losses went to technology companies, including payment and credit card companies.

A sharp increase in bond yields last week had startled investors and prompted them to shift money out of stocks. Bond markets in the U.S. were closed for the Columbus Day holiday and stock trading was relatively light.

Banks, which often rise along with interest rates, continued their advance. High-dividend companies, which tend to fall when yields go up, recovered some of their losses from last week.

The S&P 500 index dipped 1.14 points to 2,884.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed an early loss of 223 points and rose 39.73 points, or 0.2 percent, to 26,486.78.

The Nasdaq composite sank 52.50 points, or 0.7 percent, to 7,735.95. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slipped 2.60 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,629.51. The Nasdaq and Russell are each coming off their worst week since late March.

Among payment technology companies, PayPal slid 3.2 percent to $80.55 and Mastercard fell 2.3 percent to $208.26. Elsewhere, Microsoft lost 1.1 percent to $110.85.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, fell 1 percent to $1,155.92 after it said a flaw in its social network may have exposed personal information of as many as 500,000 people. It will end its social network for consumers next year.

Overseas, Italy’s deputy premier vowed to press ahead with a plan to increase spending and the country’s deficit even after the European Commission expressed “serious concern” about the notion.

Italy’s FTSE MIB dropped 2.4 percent and Italian bond prices dropped, sending yields higher. Germany’s DAX fell 1.4 percent and the CAC 40 in France sank 1.1 percent. In Britain, the FTSE 100 fell 1.2 percent.

The euro sank to $1.1488 from $1.1525.

Brazil’s main stock index staged its biggest rally in two and a half years, jumping 4.6 percent for its highest close since May after far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro led the first round of presidential voting by a wide margin.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, an important benchmark for mortgages and other types of long-term loans, stayed at 3.22 percent. That’s its highest in more than seven years and it’s helping bank stocks.

High-dividend stocks rose Monday. Those stocks are often treated as an alternative to bonds because of their large payments to shareholders, which are similar to the yields from bonds.

Real estate investment trust Crown Castle International gained 1.4 percent to $110.27 and Coca-Cola climbed 1.3 percent to $46.48.

Benchmark U.S. crude slid 0.1 percent to $74.29 a barrel in New York and Brent crude, used to price international oils, dropped 0.3 percent to $83.91 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline rose 0.4 percent to $2.09 a gallon. Heating oil inched up 0.1 percent to $2.39 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 3.9 percent to $3.27 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold lost 1.4 percent to $1,188.60 an ounce and silver slipped 2.2 percent to $14.33 an ounce. Copper rose 0.1 percent to $2.77 a pound.

The dollar fell to 112.98 yen from 113.73 yen late Friday.