US stocks drop as oil equities tumble
Trader Joseph Lawler works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. US stocks fell Monday with petroleum-linked equities retreating on a big drop in oil prices as Wall Street girds for a busy week of economic reports. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW
NEW YORK–US stocks fell Monday with petroleum-linked equities retreating on a big drop in oil prices as Wall Street girds for a busy week of economic reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91.66 points (0.52 percent) to 17,598.20.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 5.80 (0.28 percent) at 2,098.04, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 12.90 (0.25 percent) at 5,115.38.
Dow members ExxonMobil and Chevron lost 1.5 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, while Marathon Oil lost 2.1 percent as US crude prices plummeted 4.1 percent to $45.17 a barrel.
US data showed slightly weaker manufacturing activity and a modest gain in consumer spending. Investors are especially focused on Friday’s jobs report for July.
Some technology stocks finished lower including Apple (-2.4 percent), Netflix (-1.6 percent) and Tesla Motors (-2.3 percent). Social networking companies LinkedIn (-3.0 percent) and Twitter (-5.6 percent) fell, adding to their declines following disappointing earnings last week.
General Motors (+0.5 percent) and Ford (+0.7 percent) rose after reporting better-than-expected July US auto sales.
Coal companies fell after President Barack Obama unveiled tough new carbon-dioxide reduction targets aimed at power producers. Consol Energy lost 7.6 percent, while Peabody Energy shed 9.2 percent.
Tyson Foods slumped 9.9 percent after slashing its 2015 earnings forecast to $3.10-$3.20 per share from the prior $3.30-$3.40 estimate due to the financial hit in its beef business from elevated cattle costs.
Telecom company Frontier Communications gained 9 percent as second-quarter revenue rose 19.3 percent to $1.37 billion. Frontier said it was on track to complete a deal to buy Verizon’s wire line operations in California, Florida and Texas.
Soap and household goods manufacturer Clorox rose 2.7 percent after reporting net income increased 11 percent in the quarter ending June 30. It projected flat-to-one percent growth in sales in fiscal 2016.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.15 percent from 2.19 percent Friday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.86 percent from 2.91 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
