S&P 500 Ekes Out Gain, Enough To Extend Winning Streak

NEW YORK (AP) —

U.S. stock indexes took a round trip Monday, erasing their early-morning losses to end the day close to where they started.

The S&P 500 eked out a small gain, enough to prolong its winning streak to eight days, its longest in a year and a half. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower due to another big loss for Boeing.

Most stock movements were only modest, and the market was nearly evenly split between winners and losers as investors looked ahead to a busy week for markets with updates scheduled for corporate earnings, the U.S. economy and global trade.

The S&P 500 rose 3.03 points, or 0.1%, to 2,895.77. It climbed to within 1.2% of its record, set in September, and had been down as much as 0.4% in morning trading.

The Dow slipped 83.97, or 0.3%, to 26,341.02, and the Nasdaq gained 15.19, or 0.2%, to 7,953.88. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks fell 3.55, or 0.2%, to 1,579.00.

Boeing was one of the biggest movers on the quiet Monday, slumping 4.4% after saying late Friday that it will cut production of its 737 Max plane. Regulators around the world grounded the jet model after it was involved in two separate fatal crashes that occurred within weeks of each other.

Boeing’s struggles have dragged on other stocks, including its customers and its suppliers. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, an aerospace supplier, fell 5.1%, and Southwest Airlines lost 2.5%.

On the winning side were energy stocks, which benefited from yet another climb for the price of oil.

Since hitting a bottom below $43 per barrel in December, benchmark U.S. crude has gained more than $20. It rose $1.32 to settle at $64.40 per barrel Monday. Brent crude rose 76 cents to $71.10 per barrel.

The gains helped send energy stocks in the S&P 500 index 0.5% higher, the biggest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the index.

Earnings reporting season will begin in earnest at the end of this week, with JPMorgan Chase and other big banks set to tell investors how much they earned during the first three months of the year.

The dollar slipped to 111.53 Japanese yen from 111.71 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.1261 from $1.1218, and the British pound climbed to $1.3066 from $1.3029.

In commodities markets, gold rose $6.30 to $1,301.90 per ounce, silver gained 13 cents to $15.22 per ounce and copper rose 4 cents to $2.93 per pound. Natural gas rose 4 cents to $2.71 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil gained 1 cent to $2.06 per gallon and wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.99 per gallon.

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